East of the Sun
by Girl-chama
Summary: ABANDONED. If you want to know how the story would have ended, shoot me a message, and you can see the notes. Original Summary: Yondaime restructures genin teams so men and women must work together for the first time ever. Sakura learns how to deal.
1. Prologue

Begun: June 29, 2004  
Ended: June 30, 2004 (revised August 7, 2010)

Wordlessly the two nin nodded to one another. A third grabbed one of the several kunai stabbed into the door in the corner of the room. He pulled it roughly, throwing the door open with the force of the pull. Abruptly the silence was filled with a wet gurgling noise, soft but loud enough to draw the attention of the three already in the room. It ceased slowly, covered by the thick thud of the body sliding off of the slippery knives.

The original pair disregarded the body while the third pulled it into the room and then closed the door, pulling each weapon from the dead nin without bothering to clean them. The ninja bent over the cooling form and reached for the full head covering that masked hair and gender from sight. With a swift motion the covering was ripped away and the body jerked onto its back. Lifeless eyes stared, already covering with the hazy glaze of death.

His eyes were forgotten as the ninja above the lifeless body reached for the newly uncovered hitaete. A scrolling spiral rolled outward from the very center of the metalwork, decorated with a stem and a point. Together the marks created a beautifully stylized leaf, shiny and unmarred, even in the dim light of the room. One of the bloody kunai sliced cleanly through the silken wrap of the band and pulled it from the head of the dead Leaf nin. With a smirk, the Leaf marking was tossed into the air and promptly snatched by the closer of the pair.

"Still have doubts?" monotone broke the silence and the owner of the voice lifted the headband for inspection.

In response the last of the trio made a small sound of agitation from the back of the throat. "We'll mobilize before the next Chuunin exams."

Gravel-walking was always one of the more tedious exercises that Kurenai forced on her students; not because it forced them to heavily bandage their feet and not because sporadic shots of raking pain lanced through their appendages anyway. Sakura thought it trying, even as another sharp pebble bit into the flesh below the ball of her foot, because it should have been simple. It was easy enough to take one step after another. It was even elementary to distribute your weight evenly over your feet. The trick to the exercise was making sure that as you stepped, you led with your heel and allowed your ankles to absorb the impact.

Sakura did this somewhat slowly, even as she blinked away a drop of sweat from her eye. She wanted to sigh. She wanted to grunt or do something just to _hear_ herself! She _wanted_ to, but to do so would make a mockery of her torn haori and hakama, not to mention the tiny scratches and puncture wounds that speckled her body beneath the clothing. They were the reward for slight sounds made throughout the course of the day, courtesy of Kurenai, senbon, and the quick-to-crunch gravel beneath her feet. The kunoichi instructor had no mercy for her students and no patience for noise in the exercise. She had been only too eager to let one of the long needles fly if Sakura or her teammates breathed too loudly.

"_So much for sighing,_" she thought as she prepared her left foot for a step. The transition of feet was just as important as one foot's landing. Too much force and she could upset the gravel beneath the already planted foot.

Another salty jewel of sweat rolled into her eye, and she blinked hard, her hand clenching as it came to her face to rub the irritated eye. She did not so much as gasp at the sudden burn. However, she did curse the sunny day and the total lack of wind. Wind would have masked some of their noise and cooled her skin, but if there had been a breath of it at sunrise, Kurenai would have chosen a different exercise for her students.

Sakura lifted her arm away from her body as her clenched hand drew away from her face slowly. "_Don't rustle the clothing_," the sixteen-year-old kunoichi told her arm forcefully. The helping limb came to a rest by her side and Sakura froze. From the corner of her eye she could see a head full of blonde hair eyeing her warily, not without a touch of consternation.

Sakura quirked her lips and a brow, daring Ino to say something about her actions. As risky as it had been to rub her face, it was over now, and there was no taking it back.

Ino simply shook her head, long hair held stationary in a thick bun on her head, and took another step forward. Her rolling movements were identical to Sakura's, from the way her foot flowed over the stone, to the carefully stilled arms at her sides. Ino seemed to float over the rock as if she had been born with wings. For her ego's momentary respite, Sakura noticed that Ino seemed to be just as worn and torn as she herself, and she could not stop a small smile that poked at the corners of her lips.

The exercise had been most difficult for Ino to master. Naturally loud and boisterous, and still so when not training or on a mission, Kurenai had forced her to master her voice and her movements. She had forced them all to do so, and no one had been surprised when Hinata was the most adept in practice.

Hyuuga Hinata, to Sakura's right, moved with grace and silence perfected with far more years of training than either she or Ino had. Sakura was sure that if she had wished, the girl could have walked across water without making a ripple. As mousy as she sometimes was, the girl rivaled their jounin instructor when it came to quiet. She could have given any of the Jounin in the village a run for their money in terms of stealth. Yet, for all of her expertise, she could not hide sporadic jerky movements from Sakura and Ino from time to time.

Sakura watched the ebon-haired girl step forward to stand evenly with her. Her tresses were kept perpetually bound- for training, she claimed, but there were many things about Hinata that Sakura had wondered for years. The quiet for example… The pink-haired kunoichi wondered if she were made to choose between enduring the training that made Hinata so efficient, or being as loud as Uzumaki Naruto, whether she would choose the former. There was sinking feeling in her stomach that for all of Hinata's efficiency and quiet, the Hyuugas did not hold a house that inspired peace of mind.

Creamy jade eyes darted back to the left as Ino took the lead of the trio. She watched and waited, hands clenched quietly at her side as she looked past Ino to the end of the walkway. Ages had passed since the first time they had gone through the exercise, three tries ago. Now she only wanted it to be over- another aspect of the test that Sakura was not fond of, a mighty test of patience.

At the end of the matte white gravel, were rocks a shade of brilliant red, positioned to create a line marking the end of the walk. Beyond were dirt and patches of lush grass. Grass that Sakura was going to dance on once she was off this cursed walk.

Ino's hand was in the air, fingers extended, with the back of the flat facing Sakura. The kunoichi crouched slowly, sensing Hinata bend as well, as she watched the blonde before her perform the same motion. "_We're going to get it this time! We're going to make it!_" Sakura told herself.

The first try had seen them make it only halfway before senbon had rained down on them, seemingly from all sides and they were forced to start over. The second had them near the end of the walk when a trip wire had been set off. It was sneaky and unfair, but Kurenai had expressed that battlegrounds were never fair and had sent them back to the beginning. The third time they had made it and had prepared to leap the rest of the way from the walk, when another shower of senbon had thrown them all _loudly_ from the course.

Sakura's wrists, poised above her thighs, twitched and she felt a few of Kurenai's "stray" senbon slip into her fingers. If the woman thought they were going down this time, she was wrong- and suddenly Ino's hand twitched and they were in the air.

Silence surrounded the trio's jump, even as they sailed through the air toward the earth behind the line of red stones. The first senbon that brushed by her face, leaving a warm scratch in its path was all she needed. Tilting forward, she thrust her left hand forward as the ground rushed up to meet it. At landing, her fingers spread to absorb the impact before she tensed and pushed, launching her body once more into the air. It angled beautifully, or at least in her pride she thought it would have been beautiful, and nimbly twisted between many of the senbon. The rest were deflected as she descended to the ground feet first, with a soft rush of air, her right hand striking out like a viper, the senbon its fangs.

The kunoichi fell into a crouch as her torso, with her landing not as smooth as she had hoped, jilted forward, preparing to tip her entire being over. Her left hand shot out to the ground to steady her body, ready to feel soft dust and dirt beneath her fingers. The grass she suddenly wove through her fingers felt even better. It was not until the second rain of needles that Sakura felt she had missed something.

The oak's hard bark against her back left much to be desired. Her peach-colored hand shot up at once and wrenched five senbon from the shoulder of her haori where she was pinned to the tree. Grimacing, she looked left and saw that Hinata was in a similar position, only pinned to the ground. Ino was pinned as well, by Kurenai and the kunai she held pressed to the blonde's throat.

"That was very careless, girls," Kurenai spoke calmly, a flicker of disappointment on her face and gone again. "You should have checked the finish line itself for being a trap, goal or no…" Beneath her, Ino's chest was heaving. Sakura was not sure if it was from the effort or the adrenaline at being cornered by a jounin with a knife at her jugular. Either way, a grin lit Sakura's face when she realized that she could not hear the blonde's breath.

Kurenai seemed to share the sentiments, or maybe she just tired of crouching down over Ino's scratched face. She planted the knife back into a pouch at her back and took the girl's hand, pulling her swiftly to her feet. "Academy students could have perfected this formation by now," the jounin stated tartly, Kurenai's version of tartness. Her students had learned to pick up on the quiet woman's tendencies.

"_What the crap?_" Sakura thought inwardly, grimacing at the woman. "_That critique's a little bit exaggerated, even for Kurenai._" Wisely, she did not voice her opinion. The hand that had wiped at her eye earlier came up to the corner of her mouth where the senbon had flicked across her face. Still eyeing her teacher, she drug her hand over the tiny wound and then sighed, looking over to Hinata, who had freed herself from the earthen floor and was brushing off her backside.

She was prepared to stalk back to the beginning of the course when Kurenai held up a hand and Sakura gave pause. Ino, who had been rubbing at her throat anxiously, allowed her hand to drop and together the three waited for her orders.

"Go home. Get cleaned up. That's all for today."

To their credit, none cheered…

…And Sakura opened peridot eyes at the sound of Hinata's choking. She was not worried though, and even allowed herself a small chuckle. Before she had spaced out, Ino had been recounting one of her father's stories in the days of Ino-Shika-Chou. Hinata's bright red face made Sakura wonder which story it was. The next moment she was wondering how much Yamanaka Inoshi would appreciate his daughter and her _innocent_ friends knowing such stories.

"What's the matter Sakura? You always laugh at that one!" Ino urged, her humored expression fading in disappointment.

"_So it was _that_ one,_" Sakura thought to herself, a small grin appearing on her face. She took a deep breath and allowed her back to curve gently as she relaxed into the comfortable booth of their favorite teahouse. "Sorry, I was just thinking…" Her grin grew as she released her teacup and set a fisted hand on the table. "Remember that horrible gravel training that we had to go through four years ago?"

Sakura was pleasantly gratified by Ino's disgusted expression. Hinata gave a comfortable smile at the blonde's antics. It seemed that they remembered it as fondly as she did.

"Silence by senbon?" Ino asked, though her expression told both other girls that she knew very well what Sakura was referencing. She sank back into her seat and slouched, as she was wont to do when only her teammates were present. "I thought some of those scratches were going to scar. Not to mention, I considered starting to wear my forehead protector as a neck guard! That was one of the hardest training sessions we ever did!"

"Only because you can't be quiet," Hinata teased gently, supporting her cylindrical teacup with both hands before taking a delicate sip. Sakura grinned and observed the quiet heiress. Back then, even she had been worried about Hinata's delicacy. During their first meetings, the kunoichi had been painfully shy and the one topic that she seldom spoke of, even now, was the one that Sakura speculated as the catalyst for most of her quirks- the Hyuuga family. Now, however, anyone who thought the girl all buttons and lace, an idea that her appearance and mannerisms fostered, would find themselves between in a rock and a hard place in facing her. Sakura sighed and nodded in agreement before reaching for one of the palm sized nikuman on the table. Ino frowned at the darker girl quirked an eyebrow as she too reached for a nikuman.

"I could deny that statement."

"But honesty is the best policy," Sakura retorted, coming to Hinata's defense before Ino could try to cow the girl. As much of an improvement as Hinata had made over the past few years, she could still be pressured into backing down from an argument by Ino. A slight blush lit Sakura's cheeks as she remembered that, though her attempts were not as numerous as Ino's, she was just as guilty of coercing her third teammate. "_I take up for her too, though… And if it weren't for me, and Ino, she might still be the mouse she was when she became our teammate!_" Sakura thought, trying to acquit herself. Thankfully, her expression did not let on any of her momentary guilt.

"Anyway, Kurenai used to really disturb me," the blonde spoke, a playful grin on her face that said more than her words that the woman no longer did. "Those red eyes, that quiet voice, all of those friggin' senbon!"

Hinata smiled and released her teacup, favoring her lap for her hands as she laughed gently. The sudden action drew her Ino's attention again and the latter pointedly said, "Don't laugh, Hinata! You used to scare me a bit too! Those white eyes, that quiet voice! …And let's not forget the jyuuken, shall we?" Ino's own blue eyes were growing steadily larger in mock panic and she grinned at Sakura.

Before either could say, anything, their petite teammate suggested, "Maybe five years has given you enough time to get used to the both of us, ne, Ino?" Ino reached out without hesitation and pulled Hinata into a one-armed hug, her grin warm and affectionate.

"Or maybe you'd rather have Maito Gai as an instructor?" From the sudden downturn of her lips, Ino was less than pleased with Sakura's suggestion. "Or Uzumaki Naruto as a teammate?"

"Maji!" was the girl's reply as she disengaged her arm from Hinata to cross both limbs over her chest, her back stiffening as she sat up straight. Sakura was not entirely sure whether the sudden indignation was feigned or genuine. Ino pouted prettily at her teammate and then eyed Sakura warily. "You certainly are being prickly today."

"Ee," was the reply as Sakura sank further against the back of the seat, exhaling a deep breath in one rush. Her eyes rolled upward, appearing agitated at the comment about being prickly. Hinata had not simply been making small talk at her earlier suggestion of getting used to each other. Five years of missions, as well as hard training with one of the best-trained genjutsu users in Konoha had given them plenty of time to learn each other's quirks and habits. More so, they _knew_ each other. So when both girls began to giggle at Sakura, the pink-haired kunoichi was not offended, but gratified.

The sudden appearance of a fourth member to their party made all girls tense almost instantly. For their style of ninja training, tensing consisted of relaxing their facial features and sitting up straighter. Without a word, Sakura slid from her seat and joined the pair on the other side of the table. It was not an entirely uncomfortable squeeze, but shoulders were touching as the three crowded the seat. Kurenai took the now empty seat across from the trio. She was their teacher and mentor, and they respected her- they respected her position enough to defer to her, and though she had not asked for it in this informal atmosphere, propriety called for them to give up the seat for her comfort.

Ino, sitting in the center of the three, reached forward and handled an empty cup and the teapot gracefully, pulling back the long sleeve of her haori as she poured a now-lukewarm cup of tea for their mentor. As Ino poured, Sakura raised her eyes from their former submissive expression. Kurenai's gait had not been entirely lax upon assuming her seat. The set of her shoulders now, and the tension in her jaw as well as at the edge of her brow… Hinata shifted at the other end of the bench and Sakura knew that the Hyuuga felt it too.

The jounin's face was neutral, too neutral for such a place as this. As serious as Kurenai was, they were outside of training time and they had not been informed of any mission. Her pink brow crinkled ever so slightly as she tried to maintain a passive expression. Why did the other woman look so serious? Could they have gotten a bad evaluation on the last mission? At the thought, Sakura could not control the downward turn of her lips.

A few errors _had_ occurred in escorting Takeuchi-_sama_'s vassals from his main house to a summer house, not far from Konoha. There had been bandits that had made off with a horse at one point, but Sakura herself had pursued until the bandit had simply given up, cut the horses' back left tendon and left it. With no way to treat the horse during the mission, it was left to be put down, a memory that left Sakura feeling peculiarly queasy

Still, no lives had been lost, no _money_ or jewels had been taken, and they had made relatively good time back to the summer house. Didn't that count as a successful mission?

"Is there a problem?" Kurenai asked, causing Sakura's head to shoot up in surprise. It embarrassed her to be caught off guard, but she recovered quickly, her face calm, if not as passive as she would have liked under Kurenai's intense ruby gaze.

She even allowed herself to smile slightly as she regarded the woman and asked, "Shouldn't I be asking that of you, sensei?"

Slightly presumptuous, and Kurenai knew it, but she only smiled. At Sakura's side, Ino's hand found her hip and gave it a tart pinch, not painful but not playful either. It seemed that the blond was not pleased with Sakura's actions, or maybe it was her attitude. Even so, Sakura felt the hand fall away as Kurenai gently nodded. Maybe it was petty, but Sakura could not resist the sudden urge to return Ino's pinch two-fold. The blond did not so much as flinch at the pain.

Her nod was small praise for Sakura's astuteness, but the younger kunoichi was nearly glowing as she released Ino's leg. As Kurenai took a sip of her tea and tested its flavor, Sakura felt the momentary pride vanish. If she was correct in her assumption that there was something wrong, then why wasn't Kurenai telling them what the problem was?

"In two days," Kurenai began as she returned her cup to the table gracefully. Sakura suddenly found herself, not for the first time, envious of the woman. Pale fingers fell away from the cup like water sliding over water and then they curled over the edge of the table in a nervous gesture. Even when tense, Kurenai was the epitome of everything that Sakura wanted herself to be- a graceful, subtle woman with the strength to protect herself, to protect those who she loved. "Yondaime will be making an announcement to change the course of missions from here on."

"_An announcement from the Fourth himself, hmm?_" Sakura wondered quietly, trying to mimic Kurenai's unnatural grace as she reached for her teacup. "_Definitely important, but why do I get the feeling that this is bad?_" Pale green eyes alighted on her teacher, who had not released her grip on the table.

"Who's the target audience?" Ino asked solemnly, all traces of her flighty manner gone. There was no delay in the answer.

"All ninja."

Sakura was glad that is was Hinata who asked, "What kind of announcement?" The sinking feeling in her stomach was turning into a knot of tension that she could not dispel. "_An announcement that affects everyone, to affect all missions from here on out. Still too vague! What's going on?_" Later, she would wish to have never known.

"Effective immediately, all three-man teams are to be disbanded and restructured. Each team will have new members, new instructors, and contain shinobi and kunoichi."

The bomb dropped.

The expressions on the faces of Kunoichi Team A would have been comical if not for the fact that each girl looked like she was on the verge of fainting. Kurenai pressed, advancing on the silence, "For the first time in Konoha's history, Shinobi and Kunoichi will join the same teams and train under the same instructor."

The bomb exploded.


	2. Chapter One

Training again, but at least this time they were running. Sakura spared a moment to be grateful that this exercise was not the gravel. Their team had progressed further than that basic exercise almost three years ago, but the thought of the painful training and how mediocre her abilities had been at the time was embarrassing to the point of being painful itself. But now she was running, and maintaining the silence that she had so painfully earned all that time ago.

They had all increased in skill, but unfortunately the training-induced pain was constant, and so was Kurenai's level of patience. It made sense, but to Sakura the aching in her body was outweighing her desire to feel sensible about Kurenai's training tactics.

Her legs and ankles were supposed to be bandaged tightly, compressing her limbs to run at her current breakneck pace, but they were loosening. With scratches and nicks in them and droplets of blood softening their tautness, in a few more minutes they would be useless. Another scratch on her face, fresher than those on her arms and her legs, was stinging acutely, but the trickle of blood from it was enough to cool her face momentarily, and Sakura spared another moment for mock gratitude.

She leapt from a dense tree branch, her arms held tight to her side even as she landed. There was a small danger of becoming unbalanced, but the danger of ambient noise or leaving a trail would be greater if she were flailing her arms to balance herself.

Sudden crackling to her right was all the warning she had to summon a handful of metal needles from her sleeve. Ino knew the signals to approach safely, and the other two were nowhere in sight, but the noise had been too precise to be an animal or wind. Too unnatural.

From veiled casings they shot down her arm, cool and comforting, and fanned into her fingers before being launched at the undergrowth. Sakura continued running forward. With a mental count to ten, she looked back over her shoulder to see half of Kurenai's body covered in a billowing cloud of smoke.

"_Kawarimi!_" Sakura thought angrily, green eyes already focused once more on the path ahead of her.

Her distraction was enough for the Hyuuga heiress, to appear in her view and attack. An open palm, fingers held erect buried itself in her soft stomach, fingers threatening the juncture of her ribs. The pink-haired kunoichi's body curled around the palm, feeling a ripple of pain washing outward from the victimized organ as the tenketsu beneath the hand suddenly closed. Tiny though she was, Hinata utilized her family's technique to her fullest capability, and the knee-jerk reaction to having the wind knocked from her was too much for Sakura to ignore.

Conditioning kicked in quickly as she gave into the urge to fall over her teammate's outstretched arm. A split-second later, her right hand, full of senbon, was swiping at her attacker's exposed left side while her left held onto the hand buried in her gut. Hinata's left hand was free, though, and knowing Sakura's attack pattern she was able to counter by burying two swift finger's into her victim's right shoulder.

All of the senbon clattered like raindrops to the tree limb they were perched on even before Sakura's arm fell like willow branches to her side.

They paused for a moment, Sakura still trying to recover her breath from the initial blow. Her thin left hand was locked over Hinata's right wrist, but her own right arm was dangling like limp ramen at her side. It would take a few minutes to recover, but until then it was clear who had the upper hand, and Hinata was not going to give Sakura the time she needed.

"_Press the advantage,_" Sakura willed her silently, even knowing the consequences. She looked up into the milky white eyes of her hunter. They were placid, mirroring Sakura's own expression, she was sure. Yet there was a sudden niggling at the back of the attacked girl's mind, forgetting that they were trained to adopt this demeanor. They were trained to put aside their emotions even in the heat of battle. Sakura momentarily forgot that thought and her own serene countenance cracked as she wondered if Hinata cared about the damage she had wrought with the Gentle Fist_. "Fifteen years old and already…_"

That blank demeanor reappeared as Ino's leg shot out and swept Hinata's feet clean from under her. Her ally had returned.

"_Press the advantage!_" Sakura's hold on Hinata was released as she expelled the girl away from her body with two controlled feet, off of the tree branch and into the cool night air. It was certain that the violet-haired would catch herself, not allowing such a thing to stop her from pursuing her prey, and so Sakura did not look back as Ino grabbed her good wrist and began pulling her away. Their flight was but momentary sanctuary.

Ino tossed a long, clean needle to Sakura who plucked it from the air with her left hand. Her right was still mostly useless, but there was a prickling feeling that washed over it every few moments in waves. Sensation was returning. Sakura's eyes darted to their left corner, watching as Ino began rolling her own needle through her the fingers of her right hand. It flowed around the digits, tapping her fingertips then her knuckles, then rolling again.

"_Happened back there?_" A question. Ino was annoyed.

Sakura's movements were slightly fumbled as she began to manipulate the senbon. The left hand was not her dominant, and she had never trained her hands to be ambidextrous. Her movements were similar to, but did not mirror Ino's exactly.

"_Kurenai, kawarimi. Distracted. Hinata employed Hyuuga-ryu. Right arm out._"

Ino rolled her eyes and continued communicating. The senbon was silent and its movements were subtle. It was a perfect communication device. Even Kurenai had been impressed when the girls had developed their favorite weapon to continue speaking. How else were Sakura and Ino ever to pass all of their teacher's exams without losing their minds in silence? Not to mention it was cool to use a language that no one else could.

"_No more separation. New Plan. Together,_" and the weapon was tucked away. Sakura tossed Ino's back to her, not waiting to see her teammate catch it.

She rolled her shoulder as chakra accumulated in her calves and then expelled as she launched herself into the air again. Cautiously she allowed one of her weapons to grace her fingers as she tested the strength in her fingers. The barest sensation of the senbon in her fingers kept her from tucking it back into her sleeve. Her left hand absently rubbed her stomach. She would have readily accepted the burning ache there for feeling in her arm.

They continued running at a top pace, consumed by the war games that Kurenai had demanded. For once, Ino and Sakura had been paired together. And a team they were, reading each other's movements well enough to interpret the slightest roll of the eyes or turn of the head. So when Ino's face turned slightly in Sakura's direction the pink-haired ninja came to a full halt, her arm cutting in a downward arc through the air like a whip while the metal stick in her fingers flailed like a baton through the rain.

Five chinks. Five small tinkling sounds of metal against metal as Sakura used her weapon to deflect the needles aimed at the bundle of nerves running through her teammate's thigh. A hit would have stopped them completely. Sakura released a tight breath, trying to force her body to relax. It tensed involuntarily as she felt Ino's slim hand on her shoulder.

There were no words of thanks, but none were needed. Instead, she pointed down to the ground and Sakura nodded. Two small jumps followed, enough to get them out of the air and to the ground.

Hinata was already there, one hand held in the same flat position it had been as it had found its way to Sakura's stomach. Kurenai was nowhere to be seen. Ino took a small step ahead of Sakura toward Hinata. She wanted to engage the girl? That was quite alright. Sakura had had enough of the Gentle Fist to last her a lifetime.

She pivoted, her back to Ino's as she guarded her teammate and friend. If the trio had come to this kind of standoff, then Kurenai would not be long in making an appearance.

The ebon-haired woman did, and it was a sign of will power that Sakura's plain expression remained so. Her lips did quirk at the sight of her instructor, who appeared to have just come from the powder room, fresh and clean. A glistening sheen of sweat was the only sign of exertion on the woman and that could have been put down to humidity. The momentary break in her demeanor only served to remind Sakura of her own appearance and the dried blood on her face.

Sakura licked her lips, hating the chapped feel of them and narrowed her eyes ever so slightly at the woman in front of her. She, herself, was worn down and in the worst shape of the three of them. Then again, such was the entire purpose of this exercise- it all came down to this moment. Her fingers itched for her favorite needles, but she did not summon them.

Instead her left shoulder dropped deep, and in her sleeve she could feel a taught roll falling downward toward her hand.

Ino and Hinata had both already been through this experience. It might have been easier for her to be worn down this way by simply lying in the floor and letting them kick her around, but Kurenai had stressed that the scenario had to be as real as possible. Sakura had to be made truly aware of her situation, to feel her adrenaline pumping through her veins, to feel the burden of protecting a teammate, and to feel exhaustion settling into every fiber of her being. That was how it had been explained, and now that they were at the climax of the exercise, she understood. She fully understood.

Kurenai charged and Sakura's left hand took hold of the scroll that had been stored against her shoulder; a bit slow, she would have to find another storage cavity with easier access. It was all part of the training. When, how, where to use it was up to her. She only had to make sure that she used it, and that she followed through.

She was only a breath away! Her right thumb tore through the binding on the scroll and deft fingers suddenly whipped it away from her body like a banner in the midst of a battle. Was this really happening? Ino and Hinata had passed this exam, but afterwards…

"Shannaro!" she heard herself scream, panicked as her fingers clamped onto the scroll and she dropped to the ground. The scroll in her hands spread the soft dirt beneath it like a stone dropped into water and then everything went white.

"_Maito Gai was a very fine man, and a very fine man was he… He called for his jump suit, and he called for his toothbrush, and he called for his cute little Lee!_" Gai hummed to himself as he watched his favorite student follow through one of their daily kata. The young man's body cut through the air like an axe, cutting with deadly accuracy and clean lines to boot.

The passionate Kiba and excitable Naruto had already left for the day. They were dedicated, especially Naruto, but their goals lay elsewhere. Naruto desperately wanted to be Hokage, but he would have to strengthen his ninjutsu and genjustu before he would have a right to even _attempt_ that title. Kiba was dedicated to competition, and Rock Lee's goal lay through the taijutsu training grounds.

Gai's thoughts of his other students were abandoned as he watched Lee leap into the Konoha Whirlwind. He had seen it before, many times, but it never failed to make him proud when his own attack was executed flawlessly. "That was wonderful Lee! Your invigorating energy overflows with the bounty of youth! Again!"

Maybe it was because he was busy praising his student, because Maito Gai was never caught off guard, but when Yuuhi Kurenai appeared at his side as easily and quietly as a gentle breath of wind, it was only his Jounin training that kept him from jumping out of his green suit.

Even though she stood directly beside him, neither behind nor ahead of him (really, the precious kunoichi could be heated about their equality sometimes) she did not regard him. Her stone-faced expression was turned on his student who was still moving through his kata. If Lee had seen the woman he gave no notice of her. Otherwise, his sense of honor as a man would have obligated him to greet his lovely female superior.

Unwilling to show his surprise or curiosity at her presence, Gai asked only, "Do you see the superiority of his flow and movement?" At that she did turn to him, only slightly, enough to let him know that she was aware of his question, but she did not answer. Gai grinned. That was enough of an answer for him. Women were modest, and it would be wholly against his tender heart to embarrass her by addressing her awe!

"Unfortunately, I did come to observe Lee's training," she replied quietly, controlled.

"Hmm, as much as your modern attitude would magnify my style to the heights, it is just that- my style!" Kurenai was regarding him now with beautiful but dispassionate cherry eyes. She seemed to be waiting for something else. What could it be? "_Of course!_" Gai thought, his face turning stern. Kurenai was unfazed. Before she could say anything, if she had indeed been going to, his mouth cracked, showing two brilliantly white rows of teeth, and his left thumb flashed upward. "_Nice guy, pose! Okay!_"

A long, long pause passed between the two jounin, the only sound being that of Lee's grunts as he thrust and kicked. Then Gai's grin turned extremely bright. It had worked!

Kurenai's tiny smile poked from beneath cherry red lips. "Your style," she spoke in the same calm voice. "Is exactly what I am hear to discuss."

The room was dark now. Ino had just finished drawing the curtains. The blond girl scrubbed at her face lazily with one hand before scooting towards her bed. With a graceless flop she joined her two teammates, perhaps ex-teammates was more appropriate, on the bed and the three laid in silence, only broken by the rustling of Sakura's hands as she took one of theirs in each of her own.

Kurenai's words were still hanging in the air. "_Effective immediately,_" she had said, but the official announcement had another two days to go. Two days to kiss away five years of training, sweating, and bleeding together.

"We'll be all right," she heard herself murmur. Words held no comfort, yet it was still amazing how passable they sounded, even to her. She squeezed their hands instead, trying to convey her fear, her anticipation, and trying to pass along her courage. They would all need it. Both squeezed back.

"You're right," Hinata added. "We'll be all right. We just have to become chuunin as quickly as possible. Then we can work together again." Sakura sighed and nodded against the comforter of the bed. The concern in Hinata's voice brought back a flash of memory from a time she had not been so concerned, when her flat hand had been buried to the wrist in Sakura's torso. That was two years ago now. Two years and even then Sakura knew that the girl had not _wanted_ to attack her…

Ino sighed and tried to become comfortable. She was fidgeting as she broke through the fake serenity, "The shinobi will still _be_ there." None of them wanted to hear it, but Ino had always been the painfully honest one.

Sakura sighed and tipped to her right, rolling her head over Ino's stomach and down to her abdomen. Her hands still held both Hinata's, whose grip was now a slight stretch, and Ino's as the latter began to stroke her crown, trying to both soothe and reassure. The motion looped down her neck to her shoulders and down her back, then up to her shoulders again in slow, soft motions. Sakura sighed and closed her eyes, her hands feeling out Hinata's shoulders. They were tense and taut and Sakura began to work at the muscles gently and first, but then squeezing deeper.

Hinata was the first to break the silence this time, saying, "I wonder what it will be like." Sakura paused in her ministrations as did Ino, both listening intently to their quieter teammate. "Working with men, that is…" Her uncertain tone did not go unnoticed.

Sakura did not bother looking at Ino. Though she was not sure what the blond girl was thinking, she was certain it had something to do with Hyuuga Hiashi and the demands he placed on his daughter. There had been more than one occasion over the five years when Hinata had made passing remarks, meant to be light and tension-dispelling that had had the opposite effect, and over those years Sakura and Ino had pooled their information. Their teammate and best friend had a rougher life than she let on.

The pink-haired kunoichi sat up and her hands once again found the smaller girl's shoulders. With slow, careful movements, she slid her arms around the girl's shoulders and pulled her back into her chest, hugging her gently. "It'll be all right, Hinata-chan. Everything will be okay." Ino re-situated and hugged her from the front, but if Hinata seemed surprised at the display of affection, she did not show it.

"In the end," Ino explained, "We're all ninja of the Hidden Leaf." Blue eyes smiled at green above the expanse of violet hair and green eyes smiled back. Hinata pulled away from beneath their protective hugs. Their smiles did not fade. They were worried about her.

"I know," she replied to Ino's statement, but she did not smile. Very slowly, she wrapped one arm around each of her teammates and pulled them to her, hugging them both as they had her. "I'm going to be strong for both of you, so I don't want you to worry about me, okay?" A compromising situation, being hugged to the bosom of the future leader of the Hyuuga clan who was also an adept user of the Gentle Fist. "Please promise me that you won't worry about me." Compromising, indeed.

Then again, they were still teammates, and if either Ino or Sakura had wanted to, they could have cowed the girl into complacency. They could have done any number of things, but there would be no cowing today, not when they were vulnerable enough as it was. Sakura could not help it when her smile grew watery as she looked down at the smallest of their trio. "Idiot," she murmured and then snaked her arms around the girl once more. "You're my friend. It'd be impossible not to worry about you, and Ino too."

Minutes later after having expelled more tears, the girls laid looking up at the ceiling, holding hands once more and trying to draw the strength they knew they would need to face the coming change.

"Ne," Ino spoke, more chipper than any of them had managed since hearing the news. Sakura turned her head to look at the blond and Hinata turned to look at the back of Sakura's head. Both waited patiently.

Sakura wondered at Ino's sudden grin. "Just out of curiosity who would you like the shinobi on your team to be?" Sakura could not control her snort of derision, but Ino only grinned more brightly. The coral-haired young woman propped up on one elbow.

"What game are you playing?" Sakura asked, quirking a slender pink brow at her best friend. Ino's reply was a casual shrug.

"No game! Just answer the question."

Sakura shrugged and flopped solidly onto her back.

"Sasuke, right? Me too." Ino's grin faded slightly as she began to seriously contemplate the idea. Sakura simply watched her from the corner of a bright green eye.

"Yes, Uchiha Sasuke," the blond repeated. "That prodigy is definitely too hot for his own good. A little arrogant, but he can _walk _the_ walk_. Besides, I can knock his arrogance down a notch or two. Wise choice, Haruno-san," she teased finally, grinning at Sakura. For her part, Sakura only quirked a brow at the ceiling, her face becoming placid once more. She was glad for Ino's presumption, glad that her friend thought she knew everything, because in moment's like these Sakura felt amazingly superior. It was comforting to know that Ino still didn't know **everything** about her, and Sakura took strength from that.

"Whoever said anything about Sasuke?" she finally retorted. "I would pick Itachi."

"Whaaat!" Ino drawled and Sakura squeezed Hinata's hand to convey her mirth. "He's too old for you!"

"I'm a mature sixteen year old woman. He's only in his early twenties. That's not too much older. Besides, he could be a kunoichi if he wanted."

There was a silence that followed her statement and suddenly it was no longer of the comfortable variety. Unfortunately, Hinata's tinkling laughter broke it, and Sakura's opinion had not been made in jest. Her thin fingers squeezed Hinata's again, this time in reprimand. The Hyuuga only laughed harder. "What?" Sakura demanded, turning her head to face the violet-haired young woman. "He's beautiful, graceful, _and_ talented. And he's mysterious. Isn't that good enough?"

Ino suddenly shot up and looked down at Sakura with an expression that could only be described as maniacal. Strange how it seemed so sincere…

"Let's marry brothers!" Her azure gaze was cast on Hinata whose cheeks were still tinged pink from laughter. "And you can marry Uzumaki Naruto!" The smallest young woman froze while her pink cheeks were consumed in red fire.

Sakura squeezed her hand quickly again and turned her back to Ino, shutting out the blond girl's nonsensical talking. Wasn't Ino supposed to be the honest one_? "Maybe I'll just take that responsibility on my own shoulders,_" she thought and took a deep breath. "We'll probably never get married."

Hinata was saved from further embarrassment as Ino dropped back onto her back. The light-hearted mood had effectively been killed. Sakura stared at Hinata's enflamed cheeks, feeling a growing unpleasantness in the pit of her heart. She closed her eyes, no longer seeing her friends, no longer seeing her past with them.

Instead, before her was a tall blond man, somewhat feminine even in his middle years, but nothing delicate about him. The Fourth's blue eyes could not be placid, they had to be hard. Sakura grimaced and imagined the slightest downturn of his lips. That frown was caused by the fangs poking out from behind said thin lips, and of course he only had fangs to match the great brown horns that were on either side of his head. Upturned horns would have been comical. Best to make them downward, and curling, and thick!

Sakura sighed and almost immediately felt two hands squeeze her. The image of the demonic Yondaime shattered and in its place was left a handsome blond man with placid blue eyes. He did not smile, but he did not frown either. Sakura frowned for him. What kind of man would make such a decision? What would _push_ him to make such a decision? Why? That was the question she wanted answered so desperately, and despite her training and her perceptiveness, she could not divine the answer to those three small letters.

The pair on either side of her was quiet, and they had not made a sound since her declaration. She recognized the hesitation hanging in the air, the small quirk of Hinata's eyebrows. They were waiting for her to continue speaking. With a deep breath, she dispelled The Fourth from her mind and continued, "Tools of the village could die at any moment, be called to do any task, maybe even masquerade as another man's _wife_. Marriages can't survive under that kind of strain. They are to be nurtured and respected, not thrown into the wind."

Another memory bombarded her, unwelcome and unwanted. The girl in front of the white box was crying; always crying on that day. Sakura brushed the memory away, trying to remain in control. That particular appearance was not one she wanted to be burdened with right now. "Even as ninja, we are only human."

Silence again. It was not just uncomfortable. It was unbearable.

"Should I have a face that does not show tears?" Slowly, her right hand released Ino's in favor of clutching at the soft tissue she had brought for this moment. Her heart was aching. "Why?" the pink-haired one whispered. "Why does it feel like everything important is slipping away from me?"

From either side of her she heard the rustling of the comforter and felt the foreign mattress give way under her friend's shifting weights. Ino spooned against her back, throwing an arm around her waist. In front of her, pearl eyes shined with concern and Sakura sighed, trying to take in their comfort.

She could find none.


	3. Chapter Two

"And you're sure you want it done this way?" a smooth voice asked to the open space.

"I'm sure. I'm grateful to you for all of your guidance, Sensei, but I feel that this is the best way to move forward," was the response from a perch high above the village they both loved so dearly.

"Minato," and there was a wry chuckle, "I think that you earned the right to stop calling me Sensei the day you took up that mantle."

"Perhaps," was the diplomatic response. "Perhaps old habits die hard."

"If you two are going to continue to be so weepy on me, maybe I should excuse myself for a few minutes," came a honeyed voice just opposite them.

"Tsunade, a few minutes won't be enough time to find a sake shop suited to your tastes."

"Keep flapping your jaw, you old Toad, and we'll see how long it takes to get you out of hot water."

They descended into amiable silence unbeknownst to Minato who waited, wondering if he might have to diffuse the situation. When neither said anything else, he sighed, feeling his own tension drain away.

"I still wonder if we should not have waited until the next generation of students entered the academy. Five year olds might hate cooties, but they don't fear this kind of integration. They don't have the baggage that has been passed on by the generations before them," Jiraiya finally spoke again, voicing concerns that he had only stated once before in the entirety of their debate.

Tsunade snorted and shook her head, saying, "If we had waited, then those children of ninja who truly oppose the idea would have had even more hate and anxiety forced on them. It would have only reinforced and strengthened those fears that exist now. It's better to force it now."

"Why must there be fear?" he asked, more to himself than to those in his company. It was his duty, his honor, to protect and lead the people of his home, yet struggle and pain had been the reaction to his announcement even in its infancy.

Minato found it odd that it was Tsunade's suggestion he had chosen to honor above his former teacher's. Jiraiya was unperturbed, and had conceded to Tsunade's point, if only in private.

It was made all the more strange when she snorted before answering his question, "Spoken like a true shinobi… If you have to ask that then maybe this change will be as good for you as for the rest of them." She turned to walk away, geta exchanged for heels that would have been just as suitable beneath an evening gown. She certainly was a woman made for change.

"Hokage-sama," she spoke, and there was no tripping over the respectful addendum. She believed he had earned it. However… She turned and looked over her shoulder, her calm face belying the fire of her inner feelings, "This is going to take years to fully accept, and your people will want real answers. I hope that you're ready to give them."

Minato nodded, earning a respectful nod from the Legendary Healer before she vanished.

At his back, Jiraiya said nothing, watching the people below dispersing for the day ahead of them.

They would want answers, and he would give them.

In the dark, Sakura paused. It was sudden and her bound foot slid slightly on the wood while she willed it not to squeak. "_No noise_," she thought silently and squinted. Ahead of her there was a slatted window allowing shafts of periwinkle light to filter in, and she grimaced. Beyond was her target, but her eyes were already starting to readjust to the light and scanning the rest of the hall past the window was like trying to see through fog.

The pink-haired kunoichi closed her eyes, waiting for the spots to diminish. Her senses were still wide open, listening to every breath, every creak of the settling old house. For a moment she was distracted, wondering how Kurenai was able to secure so many unique training facilities, then she hurriedly pushed the thought away and began accumulating chakra in her fingers and palms.

With a crouch and a spring, she leapt from the wooden floor beneath her, a soft "whish" of cloth against the wood the only testament to her action, to her presence even. Chakra-covered fingers allowed her to attach herself to the ceiling and she quickly followed through with her feet. She hung from the wooden slats of the ceiling like a spider, and as easily as she had stood on the floor.

"_Ah, that's better,_" she thought, now able to look over the diagonal beams of light and beyond into the darkness. "_Bingo_," and she even allowed herself a tiny smile of accomplishment. Ino was standing just beyond the edge of the light where Sakura had not seen, where Ino had still not seen her. She hoped.

With the grace of a lioness, and the sleek motions as well, Sakura inched forward, oh-so-grateful that Kurenai had not made them train in their kimono for this exercise. The kimono was much more comfortable, but if she had been clinging to the ceiling with yards of fabric hanging off of her, she might as well have yelled her position to Ino, and that was unacceptable.

Sakura paused again at vertex of the ceiling and wall, directly opposite the window. Because of the positioning of the window's grating and the angle the moon was shining, she was still invisible from her position. For a moment she watched her blond teammate turned prey. Ino was simply staring at the light like a bug, unmoving and completely focused.

The coral-haired kunoichi gave pause as she stared at the blond. None of Kurenai's students were very fond of using ninjutsu, no kunoichi was really, not when the main weapon she employed was her own body, but was it possible that Ino had given in and used a bunshin? Wishing, not for the first time, for the Hyuga bloodline limit so as to be certain, Sakura released a slow, silent breath and forced a hand to release the ceiling.

She produced a small ring of steel wire and quickly began to loop a number of senbon through knots and loops. The other end of the wire was loosely looped around her fingers and by the time she was done the contraption she had created looked like a cheap wind chime, anchored in Sakura's hand. Ino was still standing there, but her expression had changed. That was a good sign. Clones couldn't operate independently too far from their creator, but that would mean that if the thing **was** a clone, then the real Ino was nearby.

"_And that's okay, too_," the kunoichi attached to the ceiling thought. "_I'm ready to strike now. I just need to get off of the ceiling before all of the blood rushes to my head._" She gathered the needles quickly, muffling their chinking sound by holding them tightly bound. Then with none-too-exaggerated caution she threw the needles backwards to her original position on the floor minutes ago. There were five quick thumps and the Ino in front of her quirked a brow and took a step forward.

"_Now_!" Sakura thought and raced forward along the ceiling. Ino had stepped into the light to investigate. It **had** to be a clone.

Ino would have never made such a careless mistake! A quick mind and light feet propelled Sakura around the upper perimeter of the hallway to the same wall as the window, but farther down into the shelter of darkness. Her fingers gave an even faster tug at the wire on her fingers, pulling her needles back into the fray. They cut through the clone even as Sakura turned back into the hallway and ducked under a knife-strike positioned to shave her jugular.

Her body undulated under the arm to the left and spun back on the real Ino, her left hand grazing the blond's exposed left side in a feather light touch.

It had been feather light, but Ino felt the full force of its precision as her ribs began to spasm involuntarily. Sakura allowed herself to feel a brief moment of triumph, but the emotion never reached her face. Sharp green eyes watched as Ino curled to the left, trying to control the sudden sensation of her ribs flopping and jumping beneath her skin. "_Press!_" Sakura's mind shouted, and she was already darting to Ino's other side. Ino's peach-colored arm was grabbed for support as Sakura swiftly jammed her knee into her best friend's exposed thigh. "_Four inches, straight above the knee and hold for a breath._"

Ino collapsed limply, her leg temporarily disabled and her ribs still giving way to spasms. Sakura stared down at her as she retrieved her favorite weapon, unable to dredge up pity for the blond since she had been on the receiving end of so many beatings from her. Fisting her hand around two slim needles, she heard the steel wire fall to the floor as she discarded it and then descended on Ino, who promptly rolled out of the way.

Sakura was prepared to give chase, but the appearance of Kurenai stopped her. Ino was still on the floor, breathing hard enough that Sakura could hear the pants, soft as they were. Well, maybe she could find a bit of pity for her friend. That leg-strike hurt as much as anything she knew, despite the fact that its effects were only temporary.

"Good work, Sakura," the jounin kunoichi offered. Green eyes nearly glowed at the praise, but Sakura only nodded. Praise from Kurenai was seldom received and she was going to enjoy it! "Good use of speed and diversion."

Ino began to rise from the floor, rotating her leg from the hip as she massaged her side. Sakura mentally timed her down-time at half a minute. It was plenty of time for anyone to be killed and forgotten, and Ino knew it, but she did not flinch when Kurenai's ruby eyes fell hard on her.

"Ino. Work on a counter next time instead of simply waiting for the pain to pass." No, Ino did not so much as flinch. The thought made Sakura want to smile. Her best friend could certainly dish out, but she could take as well. Kurenai continued, "You know how long you were down after that attack, and even though it was temporary, cumulative damage can kill you just as quickly as your pause did."

"I understand," Ino replied softly, but there was a clipped cadence in her tone that made her agitation obvious. Sakura froze, wondering at the source of Ino's ire. Was it because of Kurenai's correction of mistakes that Ino was well aware of? Or was she simply upset with her own shortcomings? Or a combination of the two?

A slender black brow perched ever so higher above cherry eyes as Kurenai regarded her student. Ino quickly bowed her head, both in apology and submission. Sakura watched the interaction between her friend and her mentor silently, feeling tension forming in her chest. Even though Ino was as dedicated and well-trained as Hinata or Sakura, she still had a few moments where her emotions got the better of her, yet being impatient with Kurenai was certainly not the best way to vent. Blue eyes peeked out from behind the single stubborn lock of hair that always fell into Ino's face. She allowed a small smile, and Sakura felt that she must be truly angry to show such an emotion. "I'm ready," though, was all she said.

Sakura lifted her head and opened green eyes. That particular performance had not been one of their team's best, even though Kurenai had given her praise for good work. Ino's impatience with their former instructor had countered whatever good the woman had originally seen in their dynamic.

"_Now there won't be any more chances to receive praise from that hard woman, there won't even be anymore more chances to screw up…_" Her gaze turned hard as she stared up at the mountainous Hokage monument.

There must have been something good about the four men up there, something to make them stand out among their equals, some _reason_ that they had been chosen to lead the thousands of shinobi and kunoichi who bore the Leaf. The First had founded the Hidden Leaf, and The Second had produced the framework after him. Both had taught The Third, the man who had defeated the Nine-Tails. Yet she could not fathom how the man standing just a few meters away from her had achieved that title, that power- that tall blond man with the piercing azure gaze, backed by a single Anbu squad as he stood on the slightly raised dais.

From beside her she felt a long, very slender cylinder being slipped into her fingers and she turned, watching as Ino's fingers began to dance, rolling and twitching her own needle in silent communiqué. Sakura only regarded her for a moment before turning to stare at the monument once more.

"_We need to be going, but meet tonight at teahouse for dinner and discussion._" Ino was worried. Sakura sighed, wanting to yell, wanting to yell at someone or something. She glared at the Fourth again and nodded.

"Go ahead," she verbalized slowly, noting the slight worry in Ino's eyes as she disregarded her needle. "I'm going to stay for a bit longer." She stared straight ahead at That man, _feeling_ Ino fade away more than seeing her or hearing her. Right now she just wanted to be alone.

"_I'm _going_ to be a Kunoichi…_"

Green eyes widened slightly as That memory threatened to resurface and she forced it away violently. No time for that. She had to be strong and in control. She had to be a Kunoichi.

The Anbu were still standing there, one looking in each direction even though they stood in a straight line. She gave into the urge to scoff at them, at least mentally. Yondaime was Hokage for a reason, though she did not know why, and even though he was swathed in the red and white robes of the Fire Shadow he would be able to take care of himself. The Anbu were as ceremonial as his clothing.

She felt the heat of a hand pressing into her shoulder. It was too large and too heavy to be a woman's hand, but she had not heard anyone approaching. This man was good, whomever he was, but the heat of his hand seeping through her tight-fitting haori was not wanted. Her eyes slipped over her shoulder to the hand, slightly tanned and callused, and then to his face while her own was schooled into perfectly blank serenity.

At least he was attractive, straight brown hair falling just below his ears and brown eyes staring down at her in open concentration. Was he studying her? But he was being so _obvious_ about it!

As she fully turned to him, she quickly took note of the dark blue bandana tied at his forehead that gave him, what was in her estimation, an overly casual appearance, and the long senbon sticking out from between full lips. He was unmarred, at least in his face, and for a moment she allowed herself to respect the image he had created- a completely relaxed and unconcerned man, just chewing on his weapon. No one to take a second glance at. The hand still on her shoulder, and the fact that he had placed it there before she could sense him shattered the act completely. For her anyway.

"You need to be moving along," he spoke in a silken baritone around the metal. It did not so much as dare to fall.

Sakura allowed herself to stare at him just a bit longer. She was in control of the situation, not him. Whether he was a chuunin or a jounin, and she suspected the latter, she was not going to be intimidated by a man. Not now. Not ever.

"_Give a proper answer, Sakura,_" her mind chided, and she obeyed. The pink, lightly glossed, corners of her lips turned upward into a small smile. It had to look sincere, even if the emotion behind it was not.

The shinobi returned the expression as a smirk, but his hand dropped away from her shoulder. It rode down her arm to her elbow before it broke away completely. It was a testament to her training under Kurenai that the smile did not crack. That hold had been more of a caress than a drop, she was sure.

"_Have a face that smiles, and go!_" her mind chided once more.

Her feet carried her away in a quick sprint and she fancied that he might have been surprised at her sudden change. He might not have been, but she wished it so. No one was going to take advantage of her or underestimate her as long as she could be there to wipe the smirks off of their faces. Her fingers gripped tightly at the slightly baggy hips of her pants as she raced off of the rooftop of the Hokage administration building.

Downstairs the rest of the genin had already re-assembled, dispersing shortly after the Hokage's official announcement. By their relaxed postures and the calm chatter in the room most of them had known of the change beforehand as well.

Creamy jade eyes surveyed the room swiftly, darting back and forth, as she began to navigate her way through the swamp of bodies. Men, _everywhere_. Some were old enough to be her father, some were fresh from the academy, but there were so _many_ of them. Taking a deep breath she made a quick estimate. It seemed that there were at least three shinobi for every kunoichi. Would there be any possible way for her to remain with one of her teammates? Or at least **one** other kunoichi? Sakura quickly convinced herself that she could be satisfied with the latter.

As she continued to pace through the mass of bodies her eyes scanned for platinum blond hair and blue eyes. She had wanted to be alone a few minutes ago, but now amidst this huddle she wished desperately for the comforting presence of her best friend. There would be no need for words, she simply wanted her _there_.

She was halted by another flak vest-garbed shinobi and purposefully directed to a roughly forming line. So maybe there would not be chaos in all of this madness. And if they were putting her in a specific line did that mean that she was going to have a specific team, and not just be randomly placed with some men that she had never seen before? Could Yondaime actually have thought through this decision before he decided to rip away the bonds between all the young (or old) teams in his village? That possibility was not comforting in the slightest. It just meant that he was aware of all of the pain he was going to cause his subordinates and had gone through with the decision anyway.

As she continued to scan the faces in the crowd she was able to take note of a few familiar ones that had not been among her team. There was Tenten-sempai, who had graduated from the academy a year before Sakura had. There was a rumor around that Tenten had been at least chuunin level with her weaponry before being taken under the wing of her jounin sensei. Surely, her skill had only improved.

Two stout copper ponytails on the head of a girl years younger than herself caught Sakura a few lines over. Moegi's hands were clasped tightly in front of her and shaking slightly. At least her face, however, did not betray whatever training she had managed to go through thus far. It was placid and immobile in the way that her hands were not. Moegi could not have been more than twelve and she was terrified.

There were a few others, women's faces that she had seen over the years and dismissed. None of them were Ino, Hinata, or Kurenai.

She was no longer trying to be inconspicuous with her observations, and even her serene countenance was betrayed by the slight downturn of her lips. Shinobi all around her were clumping in pairs to talk to one another. Just a few here or there, but they were doing it and it was slowing down the lines_. "Don't these idiots have any discipline at all?_" she thought sourly and smoothed her lips again. It brought her comfort to know that she and Ino would never have done anything like that. They had trained under Yuuhi Kurenai, who instilled discipline in her students! No, she and Ino would have stayed one in front of the other and not made a sound.

It took her a moment to realize that she was grimacing, and as she did it took another moment to take control again. "_Get a grip, Sakura! Focus! You are in control! You are above all of this madness!_"

Someone behind her was panting in exertion, and her own problems were momentarily forgotten as her mind latched onto the distraction, annoying as it was. Did the mouth breather have to be spraying her with amoebas just to catch his breath? Her teeth grit on their own as she felt the same body jar hers from behind, enough that she had to step forward and catch her footing before she bumped into the man in front of her. Casting an irate, though of course with her training it appeared only slightly annoyed, glance over her shoulder, she quirked a brow at Hinata's all-time favorite crush.

Uzumaki Naruto. The loud-mouth, hyperactive ninja, whose "exploits" had even reached the kunoichi sections of Konoha. Nearly every woman in the Village who had ever stepped a foot inside a public bath knew of the "Sexy Technique," and many more women in general knew of his explosive personality. And there he was, listing as he gripped his knees, not even realizing that he had just bumped into her.

He didn't seem wholly inattentive, though. For he soon seemed to realize that a short young woman was towering over him and staring down at him with a blank, somehow expectant, expression. Sakura watched with slightly confused green eyes as he simply stared at her, face red with exertion and completely dumbfounded. Was he completely clueless? She could not help but be surprised as he stood up straight and placed a hand behind his head, scratching nervously. His pink face had been split completely in two by a bright, white grin.

Uzumaki had several centimeters of height on her but she knew that her completely blank expression was intimidating. It was meant to be so. So when he started laughing nervously, her eyes completely relaxed, only adding to the image she was trying to create. It was always easier to become stronger when those around you placed themselves in positions of weakness, just one of the reasons that kunoichi were trained to hide their emotions.

The golden-haired boy opened his mouth to speak and Sakura felt a bit of her ire drain away. Finally! An apology!

"Hi! I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"

"_A face that smiles, a face that smiles, face smiles, face smiles, smiles smilesmilesmile!_" her mind chanted menacingly and the blankness on her face was indeed an effort. He was still grinning like a blatant fool.

"I know," she replied evenly, not bothering to modulate her volume to the quiet expected of her. If this fool was not going to bother, she was not going to waste her effort on him.

He blinked, his grin disappearing. Blatant was the right word. Emotions flashed across his face like lightning flashes in the sky. Surprise. Confusion, and then… pleasure? Sakura was beginning to feel a headache coming on. Could he at least not be so obvious? Wasn't he a shinobi after all?

The kunoichi took a deep breath as Naruto began to rattle away, pleased that she had recognized him. She must have heard of him before and his wildly successful missions. Turning away, she gave into the urge to roll her eyes and felt some of her ire fade away in the expression.

It was not a good day, she decided. Her team and best friends had finally been taken away from her, a man had surprised her, and now she had to deal with Clueless Number one. Her powers of perception with the Jounin earlier had been a bit rusty, but now she was fully aware of Naruto's carelessness, his slightly salty breath that reminded her of ramen, and his loud voice. He was the perfect embodiment of why she did not want to work with any shinobi. Ever.

"_Men. Men? Why do we have to work with men? Why why why? Why did Yondaime suddenly decide that after centuries of working apart that women and men must suddenly work together? It doesn't make sense, and I think that if I get teamed with Uzumaki Naruto… Well, by that point my life will have certainly become hell, so there's no reason that I can't make it hell for him too! And the other poor sap on our team. What on Earth does Hinata see in him! She is way too refined for some low-class, boisterous nobody like Naruto!_"

The low-class, boisterous nobody had finally realized that Sakura was no longer paying attention to him. His rambling chatter had faded away into nothing and the momentary quiet lulled Sakura's senses into a state of false security. She should have known better. When he shouted an innocent-sounding, "Hey!" and grabbed her shoulder to twist her around and face him, she was not the slightest bit prepared to counter his movements.

Her ankles caught together and tangled as she tried to steady herself, her eyes shot open and arms outward, trying to grab hold of something to stay upright! "_Falling! In front of all these people!_" she thought wildly. But she was not falling. Not anymore, anyway.

It took her a moment to catch her breath, to realize that she had not fallen face first into the floor. By the time she realized why she was still upright, she wished for the floor.

Two strong hands were wrapped around her each of her shoulders, firmly but not painfully holding her in place. Her ankles were still twisted together, still keeping her from standing straight, and her face was almost completely buried in a fuzzy and warm, black shirt. Her forehead rested against his shoulder, staring down at a pair of orange parachute pants and for a moment she was too surprised to move.

For a moment.

He laughed- _laughed_! Then he began to set her upright. The hands on her shoulders felt invading and entirely unwanted.

Sakura's entire body tensed as she righted her feet and pushed away from him roughly, the momentum enough to help her stand ramrod straight. She did not need to shift to know that people were staring. A lot of people. Her pale face flamed, shooting straight up into her wide forehead. It felt like she was burning alive. "_What kind of person acts so recklessly?_" she wondered desperately, even as he tumbled backward, losing his footing from her push.

Two pale hands caught Naruto from behind and righted him promptly. He did not look back and see Uchiha Sasuke catching him from the fall. Instead his blue eyes were locked on the angry kunoichi in front of him. The angry kunoichi whose fist was gripped tightly at her side, whose cheeks were flushing prettily, whose big green eyes were staring at him with… Was she angry?

Very reluctantly, Sakura released the fist she had been making. She could feel stinging crescent moon imprints on her palm. "Be more careful." Was all she said, coldly, before turning away from the pair, staring only at the back of the man in front of her. A grimace was pressed firmly into her lips.

"Aa," she heard behind her, an echo of her statement, but the voice was baritone, not Naruto's tenor. "_Uchiha_," her mind reckoned, but she did not turn around.

Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke. Hinata and Ino might have given a good deal to be in her shoes at that moment. Then again, they might not have, having to suffer through tripping over your own ankles and having a ridiculous excuse for a ninja catch you! She was a kunoichi! She could catch _herself_! Regardless, she would have liked to trade places with either of them, or both of them if that was what it would take to get out of this position.

The man in front of her moved out of the line and she stepped up to a table made heavy under dozens and dozens of scrolls. Without hesitation she spoke calmly, "Haruno Sakura."

Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke, and Ino all disappeared from her mind as she recognized the person that sat on the other side of that mountain of scrolls. Had she really just wished to trade places with her friends?

Uchica Itachi regarded her for another moment before he turned to a single unrolled scroll in front of him and scanned down its list. Training came back to her in an instant and she began to study him, noting tanned skin and dark hair. The way it pulled down a bit more before disappearing behind his ears made her think that there was more of it than she could see presently, and probably pulled into a ponytail. There were two noticeable fatigue lines on his face under those midnight eyes and wondered briefly how difficult his missions were, to age him prematurely.

He looked up again and her face was just as dispassionate at his, though her flaming cheeks gave her away, she was sure. His arm extended to her, corded muscle under the same tanned skin on his face. In his hands was a thin scroll and that scroll was enough to halt thoughts of Uchiha Itachi.

There was hesitation as she lifted her own hand, then paused briefly. Itachi's was still and patient. With a deep breath, she reached forward and took the proffered information.

"_My new designation,_" she thought as she stared at the scroll. In her chest her heart had begun an ever-quickening rhythm. Sakura licked her lips, darting a glance at Itachi, who only stared at her.

With ease, her thumb slid under the binding on the scroll and sliced through it cleanly. No wasted energy, no torn edges. She pulled it open slowly, her eyes scanning the characters she found there before she looked back to Itachi. The flush was momentarily gone from her cheeks as she focused on the task at hand.

It had to be karma, pure and simple. It was only the other day that she had been suggesting that Ino be the one…

Itachi only looked on patiently.

"Where is Maito Gai's room?" she asked calmly, grateful that her training was taking over once more. This was it. There was no more turning back, no more whining or hoping or praying. It would all be over as soon as she heard those numbers.

Itachi's face scrunched up at her, for he was seated, and she noted the lines under his eyes a bit more distinctly. He did not respond immediately, as she had anticipated. Instead he stared. His eyes did not shift, but she got the distinct impression that he was studying her. Her pale cheeks flushed all over again.

"Room 212," he spoke, but this time, maybe, his voice was not quite so unattached as before. She tried not to dwell on the idea. With a small smile for thanks, she bowed from the hips, flowing and graceful. It was extremely practiced, but sincere.

"Thank you, Uchiha-san."

From beneath his bangs she could see the smallest quirk of an eyebrow, the slightest twitch of his face that let her know that he had responded. What truly surprised her, though, was when his lips followed suit. The corners upturned gently and he gave a small nod of acceptance. Sakura grinned down at him, unable to help herself. That smile, even that small smile, did wonders for his countenance!

Then she knew that she was grinning like a young girl at her crush, instead of a grown kunoichi addressing a shinobi and she frowned, flushing all over again.

"Excuse me," she muttered and then stepped away_. "Shannaro!_" her mind screamed, and she could only agree. Uchiha Itachi had been right in front of her, working of course, and all of the training that she was trying so desperately to hold onto had taken a back seat to her hormones! Kurenai would have filleted her alive and then dipped her in burning antiseptic!

She tried to flow through the bodies, but the motion turned into more of a shuffle as she broke through the last line. "_Uchiha Itachi, Sakura… Uchiha, __ITACHI!_"

Green eyes looked back, back to the long table lined with scrolls, seeking that weary face among the other upper-ranking ninja. Naruto was standing on the other side of the table, grinning down at the object of her affections. Sasuke was there too, standing side-by-side with the blond young man while the pair spoke to his brother. Itachi was smiling up at the pair and they began to laugh at something he had said.

Through the throng Sakura watched as they threw their heads back, laughing at something amazingly funny. She silently prayed that she was not the subject of their laughter. It was just too plausible. Then she froze, watching the pair no more, but Itachi. His left eye, that beautiful black eye, was frozen on her, watching her, and once more studying her.

Then just as quickly he was turned back on the pair, smiling and laughing gently with them.

The kunoichi turned away and gulped, making her way to the stairwell and to her new classroom. Her face burning again and her emotions were fluttering. She took a slow, deep breath and expelled it. Then repeated the exercise. Twice.

"_That's it, calm and easy,_" she thought silently to herself. "_Just stay calm and in control._"

Light steps rolled out of the stairwell silently, the only sound being that of the closing door behind her and she glided forward. _"But, oh, Itachi you were as handsome as you always are! Even if you did appear a bit tired…_"

She sighed, trying to push thoughts of the handsome shinobi from her mind as she passed room 210. There would be time to think of Itachi later. Like when she was not about to have her life turned on its head.

The handle of 212 was a long vertical pole of a pocket door. Her slender hand wrapped around the steel on auto-pilot as her mind took her back in time a few minutes. Even for Sakura, it was an effort not to think of those handsome, dark eyes, and that tiny smile. Had anyone else ever seen Itachi smile? "_Probably not!_" she consoled herself and then grimaced, pushing thoughts of Itachi down again.

"_No time for that, Sakura. Now you must have a heart that does not show tears, and a face that smiles in fear…_"

Her hand tightened around the pole and she pulled.


	4. Chapter Three

"_I am the best here. They aren't as good as me. I'm only twelve!_" Ino thought smugly, not even trying to hide her smirk from the other two girls. The three were kneeling in a semi-circle in front of their new instructor.

That pink-haired girl was really cute, but she had to be at least fourteen. Kids their age did not have such big foreheads. "_Then again, kids our age don't wear bindings either,_" Ino thought neutrally as she picked at the tight wrapping around her chest. Her father had not given entire approval, but had been sweet-talked into allowing it. "_I know my boobs are coming soon, so it's best to get used to them now!_"

When Ino saw the pretty green-eyed girl staring at her, her smirk slowly disappeared. The pink-haired kunoichi was timid, and she looked somewhat scared . "_What does she think she sees? Do I have something hanging out of my nose?_" Trying to be discreet, Ino lifted a single index finger and rubbed it under her nose gently, all the while glaring death at Sakura.

Between them, Hyuuga Hinata coughed, feeling a growing tension between the pair. A meter across from them was Yuuhi Kurenai, one of the best kunoichi that Ino had ever seen. She looked a little weird, with her red eyes and _really_ pale skin, but that did not mean that she was not smart. Actually, Ino had never seen her in action, but she _had_ to be the best! She was _Ino's_ teacher after all. That guaranteed that she was top notch.

"All right, girls. Why don't we start by giving your ages."

They went around the semi-circle with Sakura giving her age: twelve. Fortunately, it turned out that Sakura was a few days younger than Ino. "_And look at her trying to be cool like she doesn't care what anyone thinks about her forehead. I can see straight past those bangs!_" Ino thought grumpily, wishing that Sakura would stop trying to look like she was cool. Kurenai was too smart to fall for that kind of act.

Ino sighed loudly and leaned back, looking casual. That was better. She _owned_ this show!

"Eleven," Hinata's quiet voice came, breaking the silence and Ino shot straight up glaring at the pale girl incredulously.

"No way!" she shouted, causing the small girl to wince. Her pale index fingers came together, each pushing against the other in a sign of nervous tension. Sakura was staring at the girl. Ino stared as well, wondering if Hinata was trying to perform some weird ninjutsu. That did not look like any seal she had ever seen… "You've got to be lying!" the blond added on second thought. Sakura's green eyes shot to Ino's blue ones and when the oldest kunoichi saw fire there she grimaced.

"Don't say that to people!" Sakura said quietly, almost as if she was unsure that she should be standing up to Ino. Her courage had taken hold of her, though, and she pressed on. "You don't know whether she's lying or not! But she's probably not! Look at her! She's so tiny and small so she can't be old!"

Ino glared at the pink-haired girl, wishing to slap her and kill whatever boldness she had found in the past thirty seconds. Kurenai might get mad if she hit her, though. So instead, Ino resorted to attacking in another way.

"Shut up, Forehead Girl! If we're judging people on sizes then why are you here! Your forehead's big enough to have graduated by itself three years ago!"

Sakura gasped and looked swiftly to Kurenai, silently demanding some sort of justice for Ino's harsh comments. The older woman sat, her eyes shifting from each girl, even Hinata, but she said nothing. She seemed to be waiting for something.

Sakura took that as a sign to continue and glared at Ino, jumping to her knees and nearly bowling Hinata over as she leaned toward Ino. "Well you're wearing bindings like you're a teenager, but even shinobi know that kunoichi don't wear bindings until they've got something to hold up! And a _pig_ has bigger boobs than you!"

"FOREHEAD!" Ino bellowed, lunging at the pink-haired kunoichi. Her eyes had grown increasingly large with each of Sakura's words. The last comment had pushed her over the edge. She was very sensitive about her would-be breasts.

"PIG!" Sakura returned, her anger keeping her tears at bay. People with big foreheads were intelligent! Not old-looking! Her mom had a big forehead after all, and she was the most beautiful woman that Sakura had ever seen!

Neither girl seemed to care that their third teammate was crying from beneath them, desperately squashed beneath their biting, slapping, and pinching.

Sakura grabbed the soft skin next to Ino's left eye and squeezed as hard as she could, causing the blond girl to let out a squeal of pain. Her own forehead was being slapped repeatedly but it was not bothering her as much as the tight pinch that Ino had on her ribs. The pig had nails!

And then suddenly there was peace. Ino was no longer grabbing her, though the feeling of her nails still burned like fire and a dull ache was starting to spread through Sakura's expansive forehead. The pink-haired kunoichi rocked backwards, clutching at the bruised skin under her shirt, but she did not fall back as she was prepared to do. Instead she felt herself hanging in the air, her chest rising and falling with labored breath. Just under a meter away Ino was rubbing at her face and glaring at her angrily from watery blue eyes.

It was the sniffling that really caught Sakura's attention, though. Green eyes gazed down and saw that she was actually dangling in the air, several centimeters off of the ground. But beneath her, Hinata was crouched down, fists held against her eyes and her shoulders were shaking.

"_Oh no!_" Sakura thought, only too familiar with that posture and the trembling. She had adopted it many times herself since first entering the academy. "_Hinata-san!_" she thought and struggled to drop down to her new teammate. From the back of her shirt she felt a gentle sway, but that was it. Turning back to see what she was caught on, she saw instead Kurenai's weird eyes staring down at her coldly. Her face was blank, but the ice in those eyes was enough to cause Sakura to tear.

"Are you two finished?"

A few minutes later after Sakura and Ino had declared a cease-fire, Sakura was sitting next to Hinata once more. She held the pale hand of the Hyuuga heiress, who was still trembling, but had mostly calmed. Ino sat on Hinata's other side, her legs thrown forward as she reclined on her arms, staring blankly at Kurenai. It was obvious even to Sakura that the blond was trying not to look at her.

"Now I want you to tell me what you think a kunoichi is."

"I know!" Ino said, her hand shooting upward while a grin lit her face. It seemed as though the past five minutes had been entirely forgotten in her new enthusiasm. When the jounin turned her attention to the girl, she continued. "It means being a tool of the village, protecting it, and doing your best!"

Kurenai smiled, but the shake of her head told Ino that she had said something wrong. "Men fight for the village as well," she countered, looking down at the blond with intense red eyes. Sakura felt a rush of satisfaction that the pig had been wrong, especially when she had been so eager to answer. "Your explanation is correct, but vague. Let's see if we can't be more specific." There was a pause, and Sakura realized that Kurenai was going to say nothing more as she waited for an answer.

The Hyuuga heiress fidgeted gently next to Sakura, who squeezed her new friend's hand with a gentle reassurance. She should answer if she knew! That would show Ino!

"It means," Hinata began slowly, quietly. The youngest kunoichi gave pause so that Sakura squeezed her hand again. The pink-haired girl wanted her so badly to give the answer, to give the right answer. It would be just as good as standing up to Ino, to show her that she was not as cool as she tried to be! "It means that you- you fight as a woman… but silently. And you're the- the counterpart to… to the man…" A bright smile broke Sakura's face as she squeezed the girl's hand tightly.

When Hinata looked up at her new friend it was that smile that she saw and she returned it with a small smile of her own.

"Hmm…" Both young kunoichi froze, their heads turning to their instructor. Those red eyes were staring at Hinata again, weighing her and judging her. Sakura frowned. What more did she want to hear? "Women are catty and petty. They fight with each other more than the enemy." The red eyes shifted to Sakura, who felt herself bending under their heavy gaze, trying to curl in on herself protectively. Kurenai was obviously not pleased with her. She had messed up bad when she had fought Ino back.

The gaze slid away from her to the blond and Sakura was only slightly happy to see Ino sink down as well. It was a scary thing to be under, that judging stare. "They can't control their emotions…" Kurenai added, the finishing touch on an incriminating statement.

Sakura frowned at that statement and before she could be afraid enough to be silent she heard herself saying, "You can't just get rid of your feelings. It's not that easy!" Kurenai looked down at her once more from her seat on the chair, but her gaze was passive once more and Sakura felt a bit more relaxed under it. Taking a deep breath she said, "Being a female ninja means being a tightly coiled spring. You protect the village with the coils, but you're always ready to strike with speed and grace."

If Sakura had known how few and far between Kurenai's smiles would come, she would have cherished the one that was bestowed upon her. Instead, she settled for thinking that Kurenai was a little bit happier, and did not flinch when a pale hand was placed on her shoulder.

"Your mother always told me how bright you were." The smile on Sakura's face mirrored Kurenai's and she nodded emphatically.

Large green eyes blinked as she held onto the pole in front of her. That memory had come from nowhere, as many memories had of late. Yet it was not one of those that she pushed away. Rather, it was one of her favorites; the day that had set her and Ino on their path to becoming best friends and the day that she had decided that no matter what she really, truly wanted to become Kunoichi.

Her eyes refocused from the wash of bright light that had come as she had slid the door open. Stepping inside, she found herself ironically enough, outside once more, standing at the entrance to a horseshoe-shaped veranda. The Hokage's announcement several minutes ago had been outside, but she had been holding out hope that they might be able to stay inside for this meeting. It was just like shinobi to want to be outdoors and get sweaty all of the time.

"_Speaking of men,_" she thought silently. At the other end of the veranda, in front of her, she saw two young men sitting and gazing at her. One gazed, rather. The other seemed wholly uninterested and had his eyes closed, his head turned slightly away from her. From this distance they appeared to be her age.

That much was slightly reassuring. The possibility of being paired with men the age of her father had briefly crossed her mind, but she had chosen not to dwell on the idea. It was better to hope for the best. Then again, she had been clinging to hope on several occasions over the past two days, but it had seemed to fail her horribly on most occasions. At least it had not this time.

She had yet to enter the room, instead studying the divider straight in front of her that ran the length of the oddly shaped porch. It seemed that at the end it reopened, a meter or so before the guardrail, which happened to be the back of the oversized sectional that both shinobi were sitting on. Whether the pair at the other end of the space realized it or not they had so segregated themselves that she could clearly see each of them on the other side of the divider. She stepped out of the hallway and pulled the door behind her.

To the right of the divider was a lanky shinobi with a hitaete tied around his waist. Impossibly large black eyes were staring at her so that Sakura became extremely aware of her countenance and the straightness of her back. What _was_ it with people trying to intimidate her today? Fortunately, his ridiculous green unitard destroyed whatever aura might have been near to affecting her. Her own strength was increasing as she stared at the boy. She turned to the left, to the less blatant one, and began walking to the end of the veranda to find a seat.

He was still not looking at her. His head was turned over his shoulder, out into the village, which he could have been inspecting if his eyes had been open. Sakura quickly took in his sleek, brown slacks, nice pants, but most of their length was hidden beneath the cream-colored haori. It was plain and long, wrapped by a simple band of cloth at his waist. Both articles of clothing complemented his long, chestnut hair nicely, but Sakura wondered if he understood just how poorly that those colors were working with his pale complexion. "_Still_… _He's dressed _very_ well… Is he really a shinobi? At least the other one's clothing is _functional_…_" she thought as she came to a stop at the end of the divider.

His eyes literally snapped open as she paused, but they were turned on her slowly, just as dispassionate as she hoped her expression was. It _had_ been blank, she was sure, until those eyes were on her and she felt a keen pain of longing for the younger of her former teammates.

He was Hyuuga.

Pearl white eyes stared up at her coolly, following her movements with a rolling grace that had her senses tingling. For a moment she regarded him with the same disaffected attitude with which he studied her. Green against white. White against green. Then she broke away and took her seat on a padded stool at the end of the divider, completely isolated from both young men and she stared straight ahead, not glancing at either of them.

"_So these are the teammates I am to have until I become a chuunin?_" she thought as she closed her eyes, pushing away the tidal wave of emotions that accompanied the thought. No more Ino, no more Hinata, no more Kurenai. With a deep breath her back unconsciously began to straighten. Kurenai never let her students slouch. "_It's so unfair. It doesn't even make sense._"

Ivy-colored eyes reopened and took purposeful glances of her new teammates, the Hyuuga first. Those pale eyes that had stared at her so coolly had almost seemed challenging. "_Like he's commanding me not to look at him…_" Spoken or unspoken, she had no intention of bowing down to any shinobi. The first time she showed her spine they would walk all over it and break it into tiny, tiny pieces.

He held the same eyes as Hinata, and he had the same fair skin. The two could have been brother and sister, but she would have known if Hinata had a brother.

Though they had the same gently sloping nose and the same smooth cheekbones, he was different. He held himself differently than Hinata. The young heiress was no slouch, her carriage was nigh perfect at the _beginning_ of her training, but something about this one radiated confidence in a way that Hinata never had. How had she not seen it before? Then again, maybe he had been like Hinata in the beginning, painfully shy and mousy. And maybe like Hinata he had grown in confidence through the years so that the casual atmosphere he was exuding now was only an attempt at deceit. "_Deceit I can handle…_"

It was more difficult to watch the young man with the bowl hair-cut. His round black eyes and thick, clumpy eyelashes were incredibly unique. It was like meeting Kurenai and her red eyes for the first time all over again. Not to mention the fact that he was staring at her with twice as much fervor as Kurenai had ever shown, even in an agitated state. "_He's like Naruto. No subtlety at all,_" she thought sullenly, turning her gaze to her lap, where her hands rested, clasped lightly but motionless_. "Painfully obvious in all of his thoughts and actions... _He_ though…_" she chanced a glance at the Hyuuga, her head still and bangs partially covering her eyes. "He_ might be interesting_."

Sakura was still unbreakable serenity, even as she turned her jade gaze on the wood boards that created the roof of the shelter. Her chest rose and fell as slow, deep breaths entered her lungs. Eyes closed to block out the world. Another calming exercise of Kurenai's.

"_I wonder what team she's going to have_," she thought silently, ears open and waiting for the appearance of Maito Gai. "_Are shinobi going to be able to handle her training? And what about Hinata and Ino? Who did they end up teamed with? Is there anyway that they ended up together?_" The stray thought struck a cord in her and the calm she had been stroking suddenly bristled and snapped away from her so that her shoulders tensed and even her eyes opened. "_What if they __**did**__ end up teamed together, without me?_"

"Don't worry!" the young man to her right spoke, his large eyes crinkling as he smiled an amazingly white smile at her.

Her momentary distress had broken through her concentration and the desperate expression on her face had not been missed. Pink eyebrows lifted from the hard V they had created above incensed emerald eyes, and the arch of her mouth went flat. She regarded the emotionally obvious young man placidly, fingers squeezing each other in her lap. How much had he seen?

"Worry?" she queried in a quiet, breathy tone, mimicking the voice that Kurenai had always used. That one had intimidated her terribly in her first weeks with the woman.

"Aa! Gai-sensei will be here soon!"

Oh, so that's what he thought her expression conveyed. Worry about the tardiness of their _instructor_?

She turned away from him, catching a brief glimpse of the Hyuuga's head turning back out toward the village. He had been listening to them? So, he was not totally disinterested, as he tried to _appear_. Sakura tapped down the smirk that was trying to rise to her lips. Obviously he had not had the same training.

She turned her head back to the boy in the green jump suit and regarded him with unabashed, but calm, curiosity. Straight, glossy black hair that fell just above his ears in a bowl hair cut. It was amazingly neat and efficient, the same way his spandex jump suit and tightly tied headband were. The only things about him that seemed excessive were the girth of his eyes, which she doubted he could help, and the orange leg warmers embracing his calves.

There was a brief, foggy memory resurfacing in her head. It was from the time before she had become Kurenai's pupil, or maybe the day that she had graduated from the academy. In the muddled thought, there danced an image of a tall, sculpted man in a green body suit with orange leg warmers. When she looked at the young man before her now, she saw almost an exact copy of the man from that day. The only difference being, that day in the academy the green-suited man had been wearing a Jounin's flak jacket.

"I'm Rock Lee!"

That was a strange name, and the introduction was slightly unexpected, not to mention unwarranted. He was flowing from one thought to another, from one expression to another. The way he had first been staring at her had her thinking that he was going to remain deathly silent the entire time, and then he had suddenly intruded upon her personal quiet. If she had not been in control of herself, she might have become flustered.

"Haruno Sakura," she replied quietly, ignoring the commands of her heart to begrudge him the name.

"Haruno- _Sakura_…" her murmured, rolling the name through his mouth, as if testing its feeling.

Sakura could only stare at him, somewhat unnerved by the familiarity he displayed with the two words. Not for the first time that day she found it an effort to keep her face smooth. Her crinkled brow relaxed and she looked away from Lee to the Hyuuga who continued to seem disinterested.

"And you?" she asked calmly, tilting her head just so as she turned to the Hyuuga. A simple pose she had picked up from Ino on one of their numerous missions with Kurenai. If she desired information from a source, there was a higher success rate of retrieval if she herself could appear desirable.

From his pale face, those white eyes glanced up at jade, a quirk to his own head as he regarded her. Then his pale lips quirked upward as well, smirking at the placid kunoichi across from him.

"_Bingo_," Sakura thought smugly to herself, smiling gently at him. Ino always had been slightly quicker on the uptake when it came to dealing with men.

He opened his mouth, the smirk never faltering, and asked, "Shouldn't one introduce herself before inquiring the name of another?"

Her spine and neck straightened at the question, her smile locking as quickly. The peaceful demeanor may as well have been cut from ice. Inside, her mind was reeling in annoyance. "_What kind of pompous, stupid question is that! He just _heard_ my name!_" She continued to regard him, briefly noting the fierce grip her fingers had taken on the knees before she forcefully stretched them into submission. He was still smirking_. "What does he hope to achieve by pressing my buttons! Stupid _Hyuuga"

But she did not repeat her name for him. Instead, she relaxed. Smooth, elegant fingers gripped her arms as she crossed the limbs over her chest and rested her back against the divider.

"Keep your secrets, then," was all she said. Her tone said much more. "_By tomorrow I will know everything about you, including your name, a decidedly good deal more than you will know of me. Of that much you can be certain__…_" Kurenai had been right to say that women were petty, but she was going to press every advantage she could and hold her own. If for one second, either of these two were going to make the mistake of underestimating her strength she would promptly correct them, the way she had so quickly corrected the chocolate-haired young man. "_Petty, but I can just ask Hinata and ask her not to say anything about me, regardless of however he is related to her. That'll show him._"

Despite the pettiness of her intention, Sakura found it extremely gratifying to see his smirk disappear with more speed than hers. As earlier, when her emotions had stabilized at Lee's expense, she found the young Hyuuga's frown to solidify her strength immediately. Her own durable countenance was not well received by her victim.

Sakura released a slow breath from her nose and allowed her hands to flow down to her knees where they rested limply, but she did not smile. She was in complete control now. Lee was nowhere near her level in terms of semantics and subtlety, and the Hyuuga had hopefully learned his place. Though from his frown and the determination she had often seen in Hinata, she was not sure that their small battle would be the end. Her posture remained upright but she continued to relax, taking comfort in her power.

"What?" Ino asked sharply, much more sharp than her tone should have been given the company. Kurenai knew it as well.

"As far as I know, nothing has been wrong with your hearing under my training until this point. Nothing _should_ be wrong with it now."

"What will this new training entail?" Hinata asked quietly, the warm bodies on either side of her giving her resolve. Even so, the words took more effort than normal and had a forced air to them.

"New teams and new instructors," Kurenai answered, reaching once more for her teacup.

Across from her, Ino's flat hand clenched at one of the empty dango sticks so tightly that it snapped in her fingers. "It would have been nice to receive some advanced warning to get used to the idea," she said quietly. The trembling of her hand shattered the effect.

Kurenai did not address the implication of Ino's statement. "This is your warning. These decisions are of the variety that ninja must face all of their lives. Quick. Decisive. Many times unpleasant."

The blond could not stop the sudden, "Tch," that fell from her lips. Her face turned abruptly away from her mentor, burning with anger and impatience. "Working with Tenten might not be so bad… I hear that she's good with weaponry, but if I have to have Mitarashi Anko as an instructor…" the sentence remained unfinished.

From her seat, Sakura continued to watch Kurenai and the sudden downward hook of the edge of her lip. She did not need to look at Ino to see her agitation, or at Hinata to see her worry. Her pale pink lips arched into a small frown and she asked, "What else is there to this restructuring?" It was not a question.

"Your perception is as sharp as ever, Sakura."

A compliment, but Sakura did not glow under it as she would have a few days ago, a few hours ago. Green eyes stared hard at her mentor, as hard as Ino had a few moments ago, though without the verbal fervor. She could not be happy with a steadily sinking dread in her chest, weighing down on her heart, settling tension in her stomach.

"All ninja. Kunoichi and Shinobi…" The words stung more than any Sakura had ever heard from Kurenai's cherry red lips. She clenched her green eyes tightly as they began to sting, and her hands gripped the table so that they became white under the pressure. "I'm sorry," the jounin added quietly. Jade eyes opened once more, tears held at bay and then pushed back.

Kurenai continued, "I know that this integration is going to be hard on you three, probably harder than even on the other kunoichi. Your mothers, they would have…" There was a pause as the sentence trailed away. No, that did not seem to be the direction she wanted to take. Sakura was grateful and blinked slowly, trying to retain the thin control she had over her face. "Your fathers are very demanding men…" Another Pause. Maybe that was not the train of thought she wanted to follow either. It was the most trouble Sakura had ever seen Kurenai have. With _anything_. "It would be above even my expectations for you three to take this change without any reservation, but I **will** have nothing less than obedience from all of you, each accepting this with the grace of Kunoichi."

Cherry eyes flicked over Hinata, but only because she was sitting between Sakura and Ino. The older, more experienced eyes settled on her older students, each in turn. Kurenai knew where possibilities for problems lay.

In their own way, each girl affirmed that they would not disappoint her. They would never disappoint her.

"It's not about letting _me_ down. It's about taking care of the village and what the village decides. This is just another step you have to take in order to fulfill that duty."

Sakura stared at the jounin across from her. She wanted to see some sort of reaction, some sort of _emotion_ to know that this was hurting Kurenai as much as it was hurting the three of them. Words were not enough right now. They were women. Words would never be enough…

The ruby gaze fixed on Sakura and the young kunoichi gave into the weight of that gaze, the weight of the promise behind that gaze. She would hold her promises to Kurenai and to the village. Head bowed, she said nothing.

Words would never be enough.

Her back straightened as she opened her eyes. They landed on Neji almost immediately, only to see that he was looking at neither her nor Lee, but out into the village once more. Against her will, Sakura felt touched by slight annoyance. He was no longer interested in the small battle of wills, no longer concerned with her victory.

Whatever guilt she had felt over her low-blow statement vanished as his eyes closed slowly, completely relaxed and assured. She would be asking Hinata about this young man as soon as she could get her hands on the girl.

Still annoyed, her face rolled to the right, away from the Hyuuga and toward Lee. It was not that she wanted to study him anymore. It was evident that he was an open book, but if she could avoid seeing that other one from the corner of her eye, she would put up with other and his offensive fashion sense.

Or she could have put up with him, if he were not staring at her. And blushing. Two concentrated patches of red on the rounded cheekbones of his face made him look young, almost childish. He was still staring at her with the same intensity, but it was in a different form of concentration, one that made her stomach flip-flop, and not in a good way. Fortunately, Lee turned away before she had to give anymore ground, and Sakura released a slow, controlled breath. "_If that look means what I think it means, then this day keeps going from bad to worse…_"

Her ears were focused on noises coming from behind her, and since she had entered the room there had been none. She was waiting for Maito Gai to come through that door, sit down between those two young men and explain what kind of hell he was going to be putting her through until she was a chuunin.

When a large smoke bomb, its casing conveniently hidden, exploded just behind the young men, she was slightly surprised. It did not help that the wind blew the smoke directly into her face and she was left to fight off the spasms of her lungs as they tried to force the alien smoke out. "_Don't lose ground!_" she thought desperately, inhaling a squeaky breath through her nose.

The yellow smoke cleared and her memory from the academy was made crystal clear- that exact man was standing in front of her, very upright considering that there was nothing for him to stand on beyond that seat. Maito Gai, leader of Rock Lee, the Hyuuga and Haruno Sakura, posing in the stance of The Crane.

"_And the day just got worse…_"


	5. Chapter Four

She was fuming, and it was no good if no one could see it.

Sakura quickly deposited her geta in the Tea House's genkan and made her way past the attendant at the front to her usual table. Ino was already present. Hinata had yet to arrive. She could only expect that the petite kunoichi's introduction had extended over what Ino and hers' had. It was telling since she herself had felt that they would never leave the blasted veranda.

She did not allow herself to drop into the familiar seat, but lowered herself with great control. Ino watched her with wide, condoling eyes, seeing the gesture for the expression it was.

"That good, huh?" she asked, shoving two dango into her mouth. Sakura said nothing, reaching for the pot of tea that Ino had graciously ordered for them. The steam wafting from the spout told her it was chamomile and she finally allowed herself to frown. Chamomile was by no means her favorite, but Ino obviously thought they could do with a little bit of calming.

"Maito Gai," she said, and that was all that was needed. Ino's grimace vindicated Sakura's displeasure and the petal-haired young woman reached for nikuman. Ino really was fantastic. All of the goodies were ready and had not been waiting long.

She swallowed the sticky bite before asking, "How about you?"

Ino chewed the last of the sweet rice balls and then smiled impishly. Across from her, Sakura frowned even further and practically ravaged the meat bun in her palm.

"Hatake Kakashi," she informed. She was not disappointed when Sakura's chewing halted and they stared at one another. The day had not been all bad afterall.

"You're on Uchiha Sasuke's team, aren't you?" she asked quietly. Ino smirked in confirmation, feeling elated at the reality. For Sakura's sake she could not yet show how happy she was about the scenario.

It was true that she was sad about losing her teammates, but it wasn't like they had died, and they wouldn't anytime soon with their current ninja status. She could not fight the entire system, and if things had to change, she wanted to make the best of her situation.

Being teamed with Uchiha Sasuke was definitely making the best of a bad situation. In their meeting he had not even been as arrogant as she had been lead to believe. If anything, he was confident in his abilities and seemed willing to work as a team.

Sakura grimaced and stirred honey into her tea, asking, "And the other teammate?"

At this Ino did frown, the memory of the loud-mouth unsettling her somewhat as she answered, "Uzumaki Naruto." Sakura started, if the sudden lift of wide eyes could be construed as starting. Her hand remained poised on the stilled teaspoon, pausing for only a second before she resumed stirring.

Simultaneously, both girls spoke, "Karma."

Sakura grinned, bowing her shaking head. The spoon stilled once more before it was removed from the cup and laid aside gently. Ino laughed outright, remembering the scenario from a few days before when they had disdainfully hypothesized about being paired with either of the men. Oh, the universe was laughing at them now.

"So it seems like each jounin instructor is going to keep one of their teammates, then?" Sakura offered before taking her tea cup in both hands. The smooth motion calmed her, seeing Sakura returned to a graceful, controlled state.

"Oh? Who are your teammates?"

"One named Rock Lee," she offered, "who is such a copy of Maito Gai that they have to have been on the same team before, and the other a Hyuuga with his nose on his forehead. He finally said his name was Neji, but I think he might have meant 'Doji.'" If they had not been in public, Ino was sure that the last comment would have been punctuated with a snort. Sakura was fairly radiating disdain and contention.

More important, though, was the idea that each instructor would have maintained a former student. Sakura's eyes flashed, and a moment later the gravity of her best friend's question sunk into Ino's consciousness as well.

"Do you think…?" Ino began, but they were cut off by the sound of a tinkling bell behind them.

Both young woman leaned out of the booth at the Hall's newest arrival. Even in a Western style tea house, Hyuuga Hinata was at ease and poise. They watched as she approached, watched as she smiled to greet them, and then as she took a seat next to Sakura. She was fully settled before she reached for an empty cup pale fingers complementing the décor perfectly.

She did not bother to greet them verbally. The tension in the air was telling enough, and she had never been good at playing coy with them. Without looking at either, she asked gently, "So you already know?"

It was the only prompting that Ino needed.

"You've remained on Kurenai-sensei's team?" she asked at once, ignoring the frown that Sakura shot her. Someday they were going to retackle the conversation about sheltering their teammate too much. Sheltering her and confining her was what had led to her lack of confidence in the first place. Besides, this information could not be kept secret between them.

Her resulting expression was too flat for comfort, and Ino stifled her ruthless curiosity as concern for her friend resurfaced. Hinata did not miss a beat, though, as she reached for the teapot, one of her favorite blends, and poured a cup.

After a moment, she answered needlessly, "I will remain with Kurenai-sensei."

No breath was heard, nor deflation shown, but some of the tension evacuated at the confirmation. Ino nodded, feeling satisfied at the answer for some reason. It seemed fact now that each of the instructors would keep an original pupil, and she could only guess at the reasons for it. Perhaps the new students would transition better with a former, who could transcribe their instructors teaching style with action? She had to wonder why it had been Hinata and not…

Sakura was meeting her gaze when Ino glanced at her, the barest turn of her head. The blonde froze under the gaze, knowing that it was a question in Sakura's mind too. Hinata's slight pause in stirring her tea said that she noticed it as well.

Any other patron might have thought them a particularly dull group of girls, but they each knew better. Between them a careful ballet of nuance was being danced.

Sakura sighed, really sighed, releasing her tea cup. Her free hand went to Hinata's shoulder and she forced a smile on her face. Ino relaxed silently, sinking back into the seat slowly so to not seem obvious. For Sakura to release herself this way meant she wanted Hinata's full attention. She certainly had it.

"Hinata-chan, I'm glad. I think it will be good for you as well as Kurenai-sensei," she stated and gave the girl's shoulders an affectionate squeeze. Hinata relaxed, a tiny smile perking the corners of her mouth. Sakura's own smile returned at her ease. Ino hid her expression behind her teacup, wondering. She would not question Hinata's competence. Too many rounds of the not-so Gentle Fist and hours of closed tenketsu would not be shamed by thinking the girl incompetent, but her manner was still delicate in a way. It was ironic that in danger she could defend herself and her party without breaking a sweat, and when she should have felt herself safest she seemed to be in constant fear of… Well, many things.

The idea reminded Ino of the moments before their youngest had arrived and she asked, "Hey Hinata-chan." She looked up without hesitation, smiling pleasantly. "Forehead Girl," and she smirked as Sakura bristled pleasantly, "has a Hyuuga on her team. Any idea about a Neji?"

Hinata's calm was damaged once more, and she set her tea cup down on the table with a flat, clipped manner. Her face was just as closed off. For all intents and purposes she could have been glaring at them. Either way, she had their full attention.

"He's my cousin," she said after a deliberating moment. Her audience was careful not to look away from her, but her face was closed off. No more questions would be answered, and therefore, no more would be asked.

Not for the first time Sakura found herself berating the Hyuuga household and its overbearing effects on her friend and (former) teammate. "_What the hell?_" she thought inwardly, angry. The opinion would not be voiced. Not today. Maybe not ever.

Tension fell on the table, and as usual, Ino was the one to break it. Quickly, she said, "Hey Hinata-chan, guess who's on my team."

"Who would that be?" she asked, her features calm once more, still guarded.

"Oh I think you know. I don't even have to ask you to know you're wishing he was on yours!" She practically leered at the younger girl over her teacup and Hinata flushed despite her best intentions.

Sakura grimaced, taking the bait better than their third member and said warningly, "Pig-chan…"

"Forehead, my love?" she quipped, crossing her hands beneath her chin.

"Want to come closer so I can whisper sweet nothings in your ear?"

"No, you always say that, but you're just a tease."

It worked like a charm, and Hinata was smiling outright as Sakura sighed, gritting her teeth. Ino wiggled her nose from across the table and all of the tension fell away completely. Even as they began to discuss their new team members, it seemed like nothing had changed. The young shinobi were hypotheticals on a distant horizon and the Tea House was their safe haven from an already weary future.

"Yosh!" Gai declared as the last wisps of the smoke cleared, his face split in half by a grin of the whitest teeth Sakura had ever seen. His right hand was making a thumbs up to no one in particular as he stood in the middle of the triangle created by the genin.

His impression was certainly going to be a lasting one, she noted sardonically, but then again he probably did not care that he looked like prime candidate for Konoha's Village Idiot. She tried to remain impassive as she took in his green spandex and flak jacket, the same ones from her memory, making that hazy time period fresh and bright in her mind once more.

Discreetly, she quickly eyed both of her teammates, the Hyuuga first, and was partially satisfied to see a frown tugging at the lower half of his face. Rock Lee, though, seemed overwrought with adoration and Sakura gave pause at his watering eyes. Was he- was he really about to cry?

An unpleasant feeling rose in her chest and lodged itself there. Something like disgust mingled with vindication. As Lee began to openly admire his Instructor's "dynamic" entry, Sakura felt that all of her fears had already come true. The man before her was supposed to be the one to mold her into everything she wanted to be when he typified everything she did not.

"_Face that smiles,_" she thought to herself and the corners of her mouth followed obediently, willfully dishonest.

"Greetings, my new cute students. I am honored and overjoyed to meet you." His back turned to Lee, and Sakura's conjectures were confirmed. These two definitely knew one another already. When his dark eyes fell on the Hyuuga, the young man stiffened, but turned his face fully to his new instructor.

For a brief moment, Sakura felt an ounce of empathy for him. She was reminded that he too had left his team, left an instructor he had come to trust, and for whom? The slightly creepy visage of Maito Gai bearing down was sure to be intimidating, even for a battle-hardened ninja.

"And your name, son?" the jounin asked after a breath's pause. She watched the exchange with rapt attention. Neji, as he called himself, was indeed a Hyuuga family member. He wore his forehead protector in its intended place, a marked contrast to Lee's around his waist, while long brunette hair was pulled into a loose ponytail, bound loosely at mid-back.

Gai nodded appreciatively, listening just as intently as Sakura herself, and with infinitely more enthusiasm. Finally he said, "You are no doubt one of the prized students of Hatake Kakashi?" At Neji's nod, Gai's grin turned somewhat sinister. He began to ramble on about a rivalry between the two of them. For a moment Sakura listened to the unfolding drama, but when he spoke of the three-day janken tournament that had served only to up his overall score in their rivalry by one, she withdrew. Men.

"I'll be excited to learn your skills for myself, and improve upon them if I may."

She froze when he turned to her, and his stare was even more intense than it had been on Neji. Or perhaps she only imagined it to be so since she was under its force head-on.

"You must be the student of Yuuhi Kurenai," he said, still grinning. She resisted the urge to frown at him. Was she imagining it or had his volume decreased slightly? Maybe she was going deaf after listening to him shout the rest of his words.

"Haruno Sakura," she answered, and he seemed to wilt momentarily.

"Your name certainly suits you, Sakura-chan," he gushed, not noticing her stiffening spine at the familiarity with which he addressed her. _Face that smiles_. "As a new member of this team, and also a kunoichi, I'm especially interested to see what you are able to show us."

She did not have a chance to respond before he pirouetted, throwing his thumbs up into the air. "The spring time of youth will buoy us all in our endeavors to grow stronger! With our combined strength, Leaf Village will flourish as never before!"


	6. Chapter Five

Relevant author's note in my profile. Read before or after.

* * *

She was fuming, and it was no good if no one could see it.

Sakura quickly deposited her geta in the tea house's genkan and made her way past the attendant at the front to her usual table. Ino was already present. Hinata had yet to arrive. She could only expect that the petite kunoichi's introduction had extended over what Ino and hers' had. It was telling since she herself had felt that they would never leave the blasted veranda.

She did not allow herself to drop into the familiar seat, but lowered herself with great control. Ino watched her with wide, condoling eyes, seeing the gesture for the expression it was.

"That good, huh?" she asked, shoving two dango into her mouth. Sakura said nothing, reaching for the pot of tea that Ino had graciously ordered for them. The steam wafting from the spout told her it was chamomile and she finally allowed herself to frown. Chamomile was by no means her favorite, but Ino obviously thought they could do with a little bit of calming.

"Maito Gai," she said, and that was all that was needed. Ino's grimace vindicated Sakura's displeasure and the petal-haired young woman reached for nikuman. Ino really was fantastic. All of the goodies were ready and had not been waiting long.

She swallowed the sticky bite before asking, "How about you?"

Ino chewed the last of the sweet rice balls and then smiled impishly. Across from her, Sakura frowned even further and practically ravaged the meat bun in her palm.

"Hatake Kakashi," she informed. She was not disappointed when Sakura's chewing halted and they stared at one another. The day had not been all bad afterall.

"You're on Uchiha Sasuke's team, aren't you?" she asked quietly. Ino smirked in confirmation, feeling elated at the reality. For Sakura's sake she could not yet show how happy she was about the scenario.

It was true that she was sad about losing her teammates, but it wasn't like they had died, and they wouldn't anytime soon with their current ninja status. She could not fight the entire system, and if things had to change, she wanted to make the best of her situation.

Being teamed with Uchiha Sasuke was definitely making the best of a bad situation. In their meeting he had not even been as arrogant as she had been lead to believe. If anything, he was confident in his abilities and seemed willing to work as a team.

Sakura grimaced and stirred honey into her tea, asking, "And the other teammate?"

At this Ino did frown, the memory of the loud-mouth unsettling her somewhat as she answered, "Uzumaki Naruto." Sakura started, if the sudden lift of wide eyes could be construed as starting. Her hand remained poised on the stilled teaspoon, pausing for only a second before she resumed stirring.

Simultaneously, both girls spoke, "Karma."

Sakura grinned, bowing her shaking head. The spoon stilled once more before it was removed from the cup and laid aside gently. Ino laughed outright, remembering the scenario from a few days before when they had disdainfully hypothesized about being paired with either of the men. Oh, the universe was laughing at them now.

"So it seems like each jounin instructor is going to keep one of their teammates, then?" Sakura offered before taking her tea cup in both hands. The smooth motion calmed her, seeing Sakura returned to a graceful, controlled state.

"Oh? Who are your teammates?"

"One named Rock Lee," she offered, "who is such a copy of Maito Gai that they have to have been on the same team before, and the other a Hyuuga with his nose on his forehead. He finally said his name was Neji, but I think he might have meant 'Doji.'" If they had not been in public, Ino was sure that the last comment would have been punctuated with a snort. Sakura was fairly radiating disdain and contention.

More important, though, was the idea that each instructor would have maintained a former student. Sakura's eyes flashed, and a moment later the gravity of her best friend's question sunk into Ino's consciousness as well.

"Do you think…?" Ino began, but they were cut off by the sound of a tinkling bell behind them.

Both young woman leaned out of the booth at the Hall's newest arrival. Even in a Western style tea house, Hyuuga Hinata was at ease and poise. They watched as she approached, watched as she smiled to greet them, and then as she took a seat next to Sakura. She was fully settled before she reached for an empty cup, pale fingers complementing the décor perfectly.

She did not bother to greet them verbally. The tension in the air was telling enough, and she had never been good at playing coy with them. Without looking at either, she asked gently, "So you already know?"

It was the only prompting that Ino needed.

"You've remained on Kurenai-sensei's team?" she asked at once, ignoring the frown that Sakura shot her. Someday they were going to retackle the conversation about sheltering their teammate too much. Sheltering her and confining her was what had led to her lack of confidence in the first place. Besides, this information could not be kept secret between them.

Her resulting expression was too flat for comfort, and Ino stifled her ruthless curiosity as concern for her friend resurfaced. Hinata did not miss a beat, though, as she reached for the teapot, one of her favorite blends, and poured a cup.

After a moment, she answered needlessly, "I will remain with Kurenai-sensei."

No breath was heard, nor deflation shown, but some of the tension evacuated at the confirmation. Ino nodded, feeling satisfied at the answer for some reason. It seemed fact now that each of the instructors would keep an original pupil, and she could only guess at the reasons for it. Perhaps the new students would transition better with a former, who could transcribe their instructors teaching style with action? She had to wonder why it had been Hinata and not…

Sakura was meeting her gaze when Ino glanced at her, the barest turn of her head. The blonde froze under the gaze, knowing that it was a question in Sakura's mind too. Hinata's slight pause in stirring her tea said that she noticed it as well.

Any other patron might have thought them a particularly dull group of girls, but they each knew better. Between them a careful ballet of nuance was being danced.

Sakura sighed, really sighed, releasing her tea cup. Her free hand went to Hinata's shoulder and she forced a smile on her face. Ino relaxed silently, sinking back into the seat slowly so to not seem obvious. For Sakura to release herself this way meant she wanted Hinata's full attention. She certainly had it.

"Hinata-chan, I'm glad. I think it will be good for you as well as Kurenai-sensei," she stated and gave the girl's shoulders an affectionate squeeze. Hinata relaxed, a tiny smile perking the corners of her mouth. Sakura's own smile returned at her ease. Ino hid her expression behind her teacup, wondering. She would not question Hinata's competence. Too many rounds of the not-so Gentle Fist and hours of closed tenketsu would not be shamed by thinking the girl incompetent, but her manner was still delicate in a way. It was ironic that in danger she could defend herself and her party without breaking a sweat, and when she should have felt herself safest she seemed to be in constant fear of… Well, many things.

The idea reminded Ino of the moments before their youngest had arrived and she asked, "Hey Hinata-chan." She looked up without hesitation, smiling pleasantly. "Forehead Girl," and she smirked as Sakura bristled pleasantly, "has a Hyuuga on her team. Any idea about a Neji?"

Hinata's calm was damaged once more, and she set her tea cup down on the table with a flat, clipped manner. Her face was just as closed off. For all intents and purposes she could have been glaring at them. Either way, she had their full attention.

"He's my cousin," she said after a deliberating moment. Her audience was careful not to look away from her, but her face was closed off. No more questions would be answered, and therefore, no more would be asked.

Not for the first time Sakura found herself berating the Hyuuga household and its overbearing effects on her friend and (former) teammate. "_What the hell?_" she thought inwardly, angry. The opinion would not be voiced. Not today. Maybe not ever.

Tension fell on the table, and as usual, Ino was the one to break it. Quickly, she said, "Hey Hinata-chan, guess who's on my team."

"Who would that be?" she asked, her features calm once more, still guarded.

"Oh I think you know. I don't even have to ask you to know you're wishing he was on yours!" She practically leered at the younger girl over her teacup and Hinata flushed despite her best intentions.

Sakura grimaced, taking the bait better than their third member and said warningly, "Pig-chan…"

"Forehead, my love?" she quipped, crossing her hands beneath her chin, and pulling Sakura's annoyance in a completely different direction.

"Want to come closer so I can whisper sweet nothings in your ear?"

"No, you always say that, but you're just a tease."

It worked like a charm, and Hinata was smiling outright as Sakura sighed, gritting her teeth. Ino wiggled her nose from across the table and all of the tension fell away completely. Even as they began to discuss their new team members, it seemed like nothing had changed. The young shinobi were hypotheticals on a distant horizon and the tea house was their safe haven from an already weary future.

* * *

"Yosh!" Gai declared as the last wisps of the smoke cleared, his face split in half by a grin of the whitest teeth Sakura had ever seen. His right hand was making a thumbs up to no one in particular as he stood in the middle of the triangle created by the genin.

His impression was certainly going to be a lasting one, she noted sardonically, but then again he probably did not care that he looked like prime candidate for Konoha's Village Idiot. She tried to remain impassive as she took in his green spandex and flak jacket, the same ones from her memory, making that hazy time period fresh and bright in her mind once more.

Discreetly, she quickly eyed both of her teammates, the Hyuuga first, and was partially satisfied to see a frown tugging at the lower half of his face. Rock Lee, though, seemed overwrought with adoration and Sakura gave pause at his watering eyes. Was he- was he really about to cry?

An unpleasant feeling rose in her chest and lodged itself there. Something like disgust mingled with vindication. As Lee began to openly admire his Instructor's "dynamic" entry, Sakura felt that all of her fears had already come true. The man before her was supposed to be the one to mold her into everything she wanted to be when he typified everything she did not.

"_Face that smiles,_" she thought to herself and the corners of her mouth followed obediently, willfully dishonest.

"Greetings, my new cute students. I am honored and overjoyed to resume training with you." His back turned to Lee, and Sakura's conjectures were confirmed. These two definitely knew one another already. When his dark eyes fell on the Hyuuga, the young man stiffened, but turned his face fully to his new instructor.

For a brief moment, Sakura felt an ounce of empathy for him. She was reminded that he too had left his team, left an instructor he had come to trust, and for whom? The slightly creepy visage of Maito Gai bearing down was sure to be intimidating, even for a battle-hardened ninja.

"Neji!" the jounin stated after a breath's pause, his fervor announcing his attention before his words. She watched the not-quite-yet-dialogue with rapt attention. Neji wore his forehead protector in its intended place, a marked contrast to Lee's around-the-waist, while long brunette hair was pulled into a very low ponytail, bound loosely between his shoulder blades. Everything about his bearing was different from the man who had addressed them, the man who was now supposed to mold them into something akin to himself.

Gai nodded appreciatively, oblivious to Sakura's internalizing or the fact that Neji had yet to respond. Gai added, "Your modern manner tells me you are no doubt one of the prized students of Hatake Kakashi, my eternal rival!" At Neji's nod, Gai's grin turned somewhat sinister. He began to ramble on about the rivalry between the two of them. For a moment Sakura listened to the unfolding drama, but when he spoke of the three-day janken tournament that had served only to up his overall score in their rivalry by one, she withdrew. Men.

"I'll be excited to learn your skills for myself, and improve upon them if I may."

She froze when he turned to her, and his stare was even more intense than it had been on Neji. Or perhaps she only imagined it to be so since she was under its force head-on.

"You must be the student of Yuuhi Kurenai," he said, still grinning. She resisted the urge to frown at him. Was she imagining it or had his volume decreased slightly? Maybe she was going deaf after listening to him shout the rest of his words.

"Haruno Sakura," she answered with an incline of her head, and he seemed to wilt momentarily.

"Your name certainly suits you, Sakura-chan," he gushed, not noticing her stiffening spine at the familiarity with which he addressed her. _Face that smiles_. "As a new member of this team, and also a kunoichi, I'm especially interested to see what you are able to show us."

She did not have a chance to respond before he pirouetted, throwing his thumbs up into the air. "The spring time of youth will buoy us all in our endeavors to grow stronger! With our combined strength, Leaf Village will flourish as never before!"

Rock Lee was nodding furiously, between wiping fat tear drops from his chin. When his nose, too, began to drip, not even Sakura could hide her discomfort. It was an expression mirrored on Neji's face.

"In order to protect our dear Leaf," her new instructor continued, "we must know each other's strengths and weaknesses inside and out. We will teach each other and become a beautiful new strength for the village, based on our beloved Hokage's teachings!" He turned back to them, grin still in place, beaming like the sun. Sakura tried not to wince at him.

"Therefore, in the interest of pursuing such bold dynamics, I think we should conduct a sparring session." Sakura had no need to react. She had expected as much. A brawl. Lee was all but dancing at the prospect, gyrating in time with the nodding of his head. Uzumaki Naruto was looking like a better option for a teammate with every passing moment.

"Now, sensei?" Neji asked calmly. Not a challenge of authority, but a sincere question, if a little flat. Sakura glanced at him, noting his heartbreaking resemblance to Hinata. At least he could not say the same. The semblance ended at features, though. He held himself completely different from Hinata, more idealized- confident in himself. Her mind sparked with questions about Hatake Kakashi, Kurenai, and the Hyuuga household, the differences that each could have made on the two similar and completely different Hyuuga children.

"Now, my bright pupils!" Gai affirmed, and finally dropped his hands to fist on his hips.

Sparring, then. She knew little of Maito Gai, had never had a reason to learn about the man. Stray rumor around the village said he was some kind of taijutsu master, though there was no Maito Clan and so she knew little of what to expect. He had struck a moderately impressive Crane stance during their initial meeting, but that still left her little to go on.

Gai regarded them all as Sakura met his stare evenly. Lee's posturing had stopped, but she could sense him staring at her. Neji had yet to move.

"Neji! Sakura!" he addressed quickly, decided. "Do your new team the honor of sparring one another!" He stood grinning, giving a double thumbs up and Sakura slowly exhaled the breath she had been holding, silence enveloping the quartet. Gai gave no further explanation, but seemed content to hold his pose, as if that were explanation enough. Sakura thought it would be appropriate for the man to show him some of his own fighting style first, or at least have Lee demonstrate- wasn't he supposed to be helping with their transition?

Instead, she swallowed down her growing resentment and cast a glance at Neji from the corner of her eye. He was no longer looking at any of them, but taking a few steps away.

She cast one final glance at her new teacher. He nodded emphatically. A flicker of movement from Neji caused her head to turn back to him. She tucked her fingers into her long sleeves and felt the senbon, warmed from her skin, waiting to do her bidding. Neji had slipped into the basic Hyuuga-ryu that she had fought against hundreds of times. If she closed her eyes just enough, she could imagine that she was fighting Hinata, a taller, more angular form of one of her best friends.

Her eyes were wide open, though. He was not her friend, and he knew nothing about her. He was going to fight her, but there was no resistance in him. Not to Gai, not to the changes. Not to any of it. She commented on it as she took her favored stance when fighting Hinata.

"You're comfortable with your new arrangement, then?" The words were a statement rather than a question, flat and even. After them, she felt a bit of the pressure that had been building in her release. Her muscles were loose and springy, ready for evasion.

A slow smirk spread over his face as he digested the words. Yet he remained still, fingers extended. For a moment, she thought they might be on the same page. He rushed forward, palm extended, but his movements were slow enough to predict without a problem. She sprang to the right, moving in a tight barrel roll before she landed on her feet to meet the opponent who was already coming at her again.

She ducked under the open fist, lashing out with her foot. He leaped cleanly, tucking his knees to his chest, arms wide for balance. His billowing sleeves made as if to distract her, but she pulled in her focus enough to punch him in the chest before his feet could touch the ground. She allowed herself a moment of congratulations as she picked herself up again.

As he flipped backward with the impact, his hand anchored into the ground, twisting his body, and he landed easily. He charged again, and she could see that not so much as a mark showed that she had attacked. Even his clothing was still clean. He had really taken the impact well, almost like she had not even touched him. He approached at a quick sprint, and she realized all too quickly that he had been holding back on his speed as well.

The senbon was an old friend in her fingers as his hand reached for contact. She blocked his searching fingers for a moment, her eyes on the offensive digits, almost imagining she could see the chakra there.

He surprised her when he finally answered her question, "We're ninja. We all have some sort of cage." There was no time to think over his vague answer. His hand was like a snake then, darting around the object with precision. She cast away her surprise and bent her wrist for a stinging snap against his hand so that he withdrew for a heartbeat's time. It was enough to gather chakra to her feet and legs for a back flip away from him.

She would not have bothered with the extraneous movements except for a hope to catch him in the chin with her feet. Stone for stone, kunoichi had as much strength in their legs as their male counterparts. She would need to start relying more on her legs. There was no impact, though, no catch or contact as she landed, and he was already there again when she righted herself. She could not afford to let his hands connect. Anywhere.

Sakura flung her arms forward, releasing a fistful of senbon with one-two throws that had him spinning away from her as gracefully as a pirouette. Pressing his timing, she darted forward to meet him, leaping into the air. Her body spun in another barrel roll, gaining momentum for a kick that would scythe his shoulder into the ground.

When he cleared his own spin and still managed to grab her foot before she connected, she realized he really did have a speed advantage over her. Her back hit the ground painfully, but only when the air was knocked from her lungs did he release her foot. She gasped a deep breath and tucked her knees to her chest, pushing off with her shoulders to roll backwards and away from him.

She had seen the movements before, been at their mercy before, but she was learning that the differences between Neji and Hinata were more than just presentation and confidence. His abilities were beyond her friend's. Only time would tell how far they extended.

It continued on for a few minutes, testing and pressing each other. Neji was clearly stronger in taijutsu. She had expected that from the start and his clean and efficient movements had only proven it so.

She would not tell herself it was unfair, that shinobi were naturally stronger, naturally faster. Enemies would not excuse her on the battlefield for such weaknesses. She would have to rise to the occasion, now and every time after as well.

Gai and Lee had all but been forgotten when she dodged a particular powerful strike from Neji with a backbend. Lee cheered with excitement unbefitting anyone but an eight year old girl, and Sakura's eyes flitted towards him in disdain. Neji's fingers rained over her left shoulder as she rose again, sending pain searing through the joint. The dead weight almost unbalanced her, and she jerked upright quickly to avoid toppling back to the ground.

They reached a lull for a moment as she fully absorbed the shock of his attack- finally, he had broken through. Angry as she was at Lee, she could not blame him for the distraction. Enemies wouldn't forgive her for those, either. More accurately, Neji had worn her down to the point where he could finally get an attack on her.

The chakra flow to her arm was stunted, and she was tiring already. Neji was watching her passively, once more in the basic Hyuuga-style position. His body was relaxed, simply waiting for her movements. She felt a fierce way of resentment towards him. Was he taking this seriously? He hadn't even activated his bloodline, yet.

Gathering chakra in her hands, then legs and feet, she darted forward again. If he wasn't going to take her seriously, she was going to have to give him a reason to do so. If not immediately, then in the future. Her body rolled through the air in the same aerial kick she had used against him before, but he blocked it easily. Too easily. That was understandable, since her mind was preoccupied with two tasks. He seemed to sense it, though, and pressed towards her again.

Her fingers found their way into familiar seals- rat, ox, boar- and the skin around his eyes crinkled tellingly. She smirked at the lateness of the action, at his underestimation of her. There was only one more move to make, and he was so confident in their positions that he set it up for her himself.

His arm in close, aiming for her solar plexus. She had a brief spark of worry that he might actually he trying to do her harm, but she slipped just to the side, allowing the arm to slip beneath her own. Before he could withdraw, she grit her teeth and head-butted him, connecting just beneath his forehead protector. It was a ridiculous move, and an obvious tell, but it didn't stop Neji from falling to the ground in a dazed stupor.

Silence arrested them as she caught her breath. Tension rose up from Lee and Gai's quarter, but her eyes were for Neji, who sat on the ground while his eyes darted from point to point. Her fingers fell into the final seal of the genjutsu, holding the technique. There had been times, oh so few, and precious, when she had held Kurenai in one of her techniques for a few minutes. Neji would not last.

He still felt the sting in his forehead from Sakura's fierce attack against his cranium, but the pain was nothing compared to the sudden surge of alarm he felt when her body turned black. Darkness swallowed her and quickly drenched the training ground around them, the way sunrise woke the world. His eyes sought the sky, but it was already gone. He did not dare look behind him, rejecting the illusion for what he knew it to be.

It did not stop the first attack from feeling very painfully real. Something hit his shoulder, knocking him off balance and sending him tumbling back to the ground. He caught his footing quickly and lashed out into the darkness, but it had already scuttled away. Another rush of air caught his ear from behind and he spun out of the way just as it hissed by his head.

He did not allow himself to dwell on the fact that their sparring session had been going well, that he had nearly won the battle in just a few minutes. Kakashi had warned him that some of the ninja would be upset about the transitions. He did not know why he had expected more grace from the kunoichi about it, especially from his teammate.

From the first moment she had spoken to them yesterday he had sensed her unease, her dissatisfaction, even if their other new teammate Lee was determined to ignore misgivings at the sight of a pretty girl. Her question at the beginning of the session had only cinched his realization and angered him at her arrogant presumption. Either she thought he was blithely happy about the new transition, which he wasn't, or she could discern his thoughts, which she couldn't. After a few moments of testing her, he had attacked with the intention of waylaying her pretension. It had worked, too, right up until the moment he realized he should have been using the Byakugan from the beginning. It left him wondering who had played into whose hands better.

He was on the ground, trapped beneath a snake-like creature, too heavy to push off. Invisible teeth snapped in his face as hot breath threatened to blow his hitai-ate off of his forehead. He could even smell foul bloody decay on its breath.

Her genjutsu was good.

The Byakugan was useless when it only saw what his mind told him was real. He couldn't reach for a kunai to stop the assault against his senses, couldn't even free his arms.

Sakura watched him with fierce determination. He had a strong will, perhaps as strong as hers, but he was not properly utilizing the means to break through the illusion. Without a combination of willpower and skill, he would be trapped here until she ran out of chakra or released him. She was not the only one who realized it.

Gai-sensei spoke, "That's enough, Sakura," and for a moment she wanted to ignore him. The pain in her shoulder wanted retribution, and for the present her growing resentment had a vent.

She only hesitated half a second before releasing the illusion. Gai still saw it. She did not look at him, but instead savored Neji's brief moment of _ before his eyes cleared. He took a deep, involuntary breath before he realized his position and stilled. She knew the horror he had seen, and it only took a split second of their eyes meeting to knew that he knew.

He climbed to his feet without aid, and she wondered for a moment if he did not look even paler than before. It was slightly gratifying, until the pain in her shoulder throbbed again.

"Hinata made that mistake before as well," she explained as he regarded her, his height clearing hers by several centimeters. When he said nothing, she continued, "Thinking her eyes could compensate for everything." Her tone was too flat to be anything but critical.

"That's enough," Gai said evenly. His tone was too calm to be anything but reprimanding. The two combatants parted, and Sakura noted that he did not offer to fix his shoulder. Just as well.

She took a seat a meter or so away from Lee, far away from Neji, careful not to sit too close to any of the trees or sparring posts. She was tired, and wanted to recline, but she would swallow a kunai before she let any of them know it. Lee bridged the distance between them in a single step so that she tensed at his approach. She was grateful when Gai called him away for an exhibition between the two of them for her and Neji's sakes.

She did not speak to her teammates the rest of the day.

After she had gathered her stray weapons, Sakura began to head back to the city, feeling more weary than disappointed or frustrated. Gai-sensei's techniques were nothing like what she had learned before or ever hoped to learn. It was like the path she had always been following had suddenly taken a huge turn off course with no other divergent paths as options.

"Sakura-chan, if I may!" the new instructor's voice called, and she turned to find him much closer than she had anticipated. She had not even heard him approach. Stifling her annoyance, as much at herself as with him, she waited for him to continue speaking. He cleared his throat and gave a smile that might have been an attempt at disarming.

"I would like to begin incorporating more weight training into your regimen."

"Lifting?" she asked, and the idea startled her so that she was sure she was gaping. Gai smiled at the cute expression on her face and nodded.

"Some light lifting," he clarified. "You wore out quickly in your session with Neji." His smile did not let up. "If we can add a bit more muscle to your frame, your endurance should improve a great deal."

She said nothing at first, but did not bother to hide her pained expression. Her resentment was threatening to swallow her whole. When he laughed, she did not even look at him, but listened as he added, "Not to bulk you up! Just to help your chakra and physical capacities."

"Yes, sensei," she said, and left without another word.

"Six AM training in the morning, Sakura-chan! Don't be late!" he called to her departing figure.

Home was empty when she arrived in the still early afternoon. She hoped her father had taken an early lunch and would not be home for some time. The last thing she needed was him making less-than-subtle comments about her careers choice, especially with the state she was in now.

Her clothes were soiled from all of the rolling around on the ground, and her shoulder was still aching with tingling pain at the tenketsu. It had not been a banner day.

Her own emotions were catching up with her, leaving her more drained than the brief sparring session. She discarded her dirty clothing, bathed, and toyed with the idea of lunch before meditation. Would Hinata and Ino be free yet? The tea house had never been the best place for meditation, but if she was honest with herself she was more in the mood for comfort than head clearing.

It was mostly empty when she arrived, after lunch patrons but well before dinner. Their traditional spot was empty, and she wondered if she might be able to get some meditating in just the same.

She had just started in on the lacquered bento before her when a familiar presence appeared, causing her to relax. Kurenai smiled at her and Sakura gestured to the seat across from her, resting her hashi once more. Her (former) instructor smiled and gestured that she keep eating. Before she did, though, Sakura waited for another cup to be brought for her new guest's tea.

"How did it go?" the jounin asked without preamble. Sakura put the fried quail egg in her mouth and did not try to smile. The silence said enough. Kurenai sipped at her tea briefly, just watching her student, because Sakura would always be her student, waiting for a tell.

After another round of chewing and swallowing, the pink-haired kunoichi sighed and said, "I fought with Hinata's cousin."

"Neji?" A nod was her response.

"I had used the ghost illusion to overcome him," she admitted, shaking her head. She did not reach for her shoulder.

"You beat Neji?" Kurenai asked evenly, and Sakura wondered what her tone meant.

She paused, then shook her head, clarifying, "I'm not sure I could call it a victory. He closed one of my tenketsu, and…" Her face flamed, "I think he was holding back." It was shameful to admit, even to a woman so dearly loved as Kurenai, that she had had to resort to such a technique when he might not have even been going all out against her.

"That's… something," the older woman said thoughtfully. Sakura felt her temper flare despite herself and when her head turned, just so, to stare at her former instructor, red eyes were already meeting her.

"Why?" she asked, wanting a new answer, something that might justify the hurt she felt- something that might help her wrap her head around her own feelings.

"Why what?" Kurenai asked.

For the second time that day Sakura felt her control slip as she breathed, "Sensei!" Was the woman going to force her to do everything so openly, pretend that there was no understanding between them anymore? Kurenai's eyes sparked in warning and Sakura cowed slightly.

"Why, Sensei, the transition? Why this _team_? _That_ man?" she questioned, food forgotten.

"All of your strengths, your weaknesses, your needs… You, Hinata, and Ino- were considered when the decisions for restructuring were made," was the answer that was given. "All of the jounin teachers had such decisions to make." It was new information, something she had not even considered properly.

"You chose to keep Hinata?" Sakura asked, and the hurt was clear in her voice. She did not look away from the woman's red eyes.

"It was as much for your's and Ino's sakes as Hinata's," she answered. It did not feel like an answer at all. "Sakura-chan," the older woman spoke. "This was not a decision that we wanted, but you'd be wise to see that it could not be avoided either… We _all_ have to make the best of it."

She did not outright call the woman a liar, but the slight tilt of her brow was enough to say what she felt about the response. Her teacher knew exactly the words to say to cool her, though. "Are your own goals so cheap?" Sakura started, staring at the woman with wide, cautious eyes. When no verbal response came, she plowed ahead, "You've said from the time you were young that you wanted to be a kunoichi, that you wanted to protect the village."

A white box, a white shroud and screaming and crying filled her eyes, the sounds muted by time and distance.

Still, Kurenai pressed on, oblivious to the memories, "If you don't reach forward and take this with everything you've got, it's as good as quitting. Life, Sakura, is not what we think it is. There is no perfectly lined map that guarantees events will happen just the way you want- even if you plan for them. If you think that's life, you're deluding yourself. You will not succeed."

Kurenai stared at the young woman, feeling a mix of sympathy and ire. It was true that circumstances affected them all, hurt them all, from time to time, but Sakura could not allow herself to take on the mentality of a victim. Everything that was happening was so much bigger than her.

Her student said not a word, did not seem to see her at all. It made her wonder how well the words had been absorbed, and it made her think she did not need to linger.

The words hit her like a well-timed kick to the chin, and she was still recovering when she realized that Kurenai had been gone for some time. Her tempura and sashimi had cooled considerably, and the tea was lukewarm. She nibbled at the food for a bit, its taste lost to her, while considering the painful words.

Meditation, it seemed, would be happening sooner rather than later.


End file.
